By Jim Maltzman: Shawn Porter believes his chances of a fight against Terence Crawford has increased now that the Nebraska native has few options for a big-money match. Crawford is 33 now, and it’s dire that he get a mega-fight while he’s still in the prime of his career.
Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) believes that he’s got the desperate Crawford where he wants him. Crawford has nowhere to turn for a premier fight but against him, and he’ll be ready.
Shawn is Crawford’s #1 ranked contender with the World Boxing Organization. So even if Crawford doesn’t want to fight Porter, he may soon be forced to unless he wants to vacate his WBO strap.
In Crawford’s recent fourth-round knockout win over Kell Brook on November 14th, he looked mortal and not the guy he once was. After the fight, Crawford’s face was badly swollen from just three rounds of punishment.
Crawford’s contract with Top Rank is fast expiring, and Porter feels that he’s not likely to get the fights he wants against Errol Spence Jr or Manny Pacquiao.
The recent comment from WBO welterweight champion Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) about wanting a 60/40 split for a unification match against IBF/WBC champ Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) further indicates that he’s not going to going to have any success getting a fight against him.
Porter believes Crawford fight is possible
“I’m the mandatory for the WBO title with Terence Crawford and I’m the mandatory for the WBC title for the Errol Spence Jr vs. Danny Garcia fight next week,” said Shawn Porter to the Pug and Cop Boxing show.
“For me, I’m going to take whatever they give me, and I’m only looking at those three names. Of course, Manny Pacquiao if he were willing to get in the ring with me.
“I definitely think it’s a fight that can happen,” said Porter about him and Crawford. “He’s in the situation where there’s nowhere for him to turn.
“He’s NOT going to get Manny Pacquiao, and he’s not going to get Errol Spence in a fight that a lot of people want to see. I think he’ll definitely turn my way after the last conversation we had.
“He said, ‘I’m working on something big, and if this didn’t work out, we could talk about a fight, but I’ve got something I’m going for.’ I respected that coming from him.
“But if he’s in a situation wanting something big and that doesn’t come through, I definitely see him wanting to get in the ring. I don’t think it’s just our friendship preventing him from getting in the ring,” said Porter.
Crawford is still holding out hope that his promoter Bob Arum will negotiate a fight with him and Pacquiao. Most boxing fans doubt that Pacquiao will accept a fight with Crawford because he’s got other options.
Crawford’s complete fixation on a fight with the 41-year-old Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) rivals that of Mikey Garcia, who sounds like a broken record each time he’s interviewed. Pacquiao is frequently brought up by Mikey as a fight that he’s convinced will happen.
Mikey has a big advantage over Crawford with his ability to lure Pacquiao due to his large fan base and the fact that he presents very little threat of beating him.
Shawn previews Errol Spence vs. Danny Garcia
“I think we’re going to see what we need to see in the first round,” Porter said f the Spence vs. Danny Garcia fight on December 5th.
“I think that it’s no secret that the kid Errol Spence Jr was in a pretty bad accident, and then when what we see what Spence looks like in the first round, we’re going to know who’s going to win the fight.
“On the other side, you’ve got Danny Garcia. I think this fight depends on how Danny starts the fight.
“If he tries to start the fight fast and he forces Spence to fight, then I think we’re going to be in for a great fight in a fight that Danny Garcia can win.
“I think Danny, if he’s willing to up his pace and he’s willing to pressure Errol Spence, be in his face, throw combinations and work faster when he starts the fight, then I think he’s got something to build on.
“But it’s got to start right out of the gate. If he goes in the ring and allows Errol to be comfortable, then Errol will be comfortable and do what he does.
“I really feel like a lot of this fight depends on two things. How Danny Garcia starts the fight, and how healthy Errol Spence Jr really is,” Porter said.
Former two-division world champion Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) being a counter-puncher with a low work rate gives Spence a good chance of defeating him.
Counter-punchers are effective, but they’re not good at handling fighters with excellent chins and high work rate. That’s why fighters like them generally lose when they face guys who can outwork them.
Porter doesn’t believe that Garcia will change his style of fighting for him to win this fight against Spence on December 5th.
Garcia’s best chance of winning is if Spence’s punch resistance is impaired because of his car accident. That’s a real possibility, though.
Porter says Spence should have taken a tune-up
“That’s on him, but my answer is, yes, he should have, but that did not happen,” Porter said when asked if Spence should have taken a tune-up fight first before facing Danny Garcia.
“Either they’re feeling like Danny Garcia is now a guy that can challenge him and he won’t struggle, and that’s obviously what they’re thinking for them to decide to go for it.
“I think the best decision to make would have been to take something a little lighter to see who you are in the ring again. But hey, that’s on them [Team Spence]. The fight was announced and the fight was made. There’s no looking back now.
“In defeat, I think it depends on how he loses the fight,” Porter said of Danny Garcia. “If it’s a hard-fought match like my fight, you respect him and say, ‘He lost to the better guy that night.’ I think against myself and Keith Thurman, Garcia showed some chinks in his armor.
“I think in a lot of ways, people are saying, ‘Let Errol Spence take care of him, and he’ll be gone after that.’ But if he [Danny] goes in there and puts on a great fight and performance and loses by the hair of his chinny, chin chin, he’s got something to hang his hat on and feel good about, people will think that Danny Garcia lost and we should respect him,” said Porter.
Shawn is correct about Spence’s team, believing that he can still beat Danny Garcia despite his coming off of a car crash. If they rated Danny higher, they wouldn’t be taking this fight. They’d have gone in a different direction.
Garcia’s losses to Keith Thurman and Porter have resulted in him being overlooked by Spence and his team. Hence, they’ve picked him out as a tune-up opponent than a lesser fighter, which is why they arguably should have.
Garcia, 32, is in the position to make Team Spence pay for their mistake of picking him. If Spence gets knocked out by Garcia, he and his management team will be ridiculed by the Monday morning quarterbacks.