By Chris Williams: Errol Spence Jr says Shawn Porter will beat Terence Crawford if they brawl in a dog fight. Spence views Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) as being too tough for the unbeaten WBO welterweight champion Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs).
The way that Crawford’s promoter Bob Arum has seemed less than excited at making the fight with Porter, it’s likely that he feels the same way Spence does. Porter is all wrong for Crawford, who can’t fight on the inside like him
Porter is the #2 ranked contender with the World Boxing Organization at 147, and he’s been trying to get a fight against Crawford for the longest time without any success.
Top Rank boss Arum will have to need to decide soon on who Crawford will be facing next. He hasn’t fought since last November when he dragged the washed-up junior middleweight Kell Brook down to 147 to fight him.
Arum tried to set up a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Crawford recently and couldn’t get it made. If he’s not going to let Porter share the ring with Crawford, he’ll have to pick one of these guys:
- Jaron Ennis
- Vergil Ortiz Jr
- David Avanesyan
- Mikey Garcia
- Josesito Lopez
- Daniyar Yeleussinov
- Conor Benn
Chris Williams has a pretty good idea which of those fighters Arum will pick for Crawford. It’s likely to be Josesito Lopez, as he’s the lowest hanging fruit from the tree and the least likely to beat Crawford.
Errol picks Porter over Crawford
“If Terence is going to box him and get out of the way like John Molina or like he did Postol, I got Terence Crawford,” said Spence to Barbershop conversations when asked who wins between Crawford and Shawn Porter.
“If Terence Crawford dog fights him, I got Shawn Porter. Jaron Ennis, I don’t know how well his chin can hold up, but if it can, I have Jaron beating Shawn Porter in a rough, tough fight.
It goes without saying that Porter beats Crawford if the two of the brawl for 12 rounds. Crawford can’t fight on the inside in a true sense.
What Crawford does on the inside is hold similar to what we saw with Devin Haney in his ugly to watch fight against Jorge Linares.
Spence Jr will be saying goodbye to the 147-lb division after two more fights against Manny Pacquiao and possibly Crawford before moving up to 154.
The Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) is already on tape for August 21st, so that one is already on
Spence will try to make Crawford fight
“That fight was going to happen regardless,” said Spence. “Bob [Arum] talks a lot of things, but Al [Haymon’ gets the job done.
“Ugas was in play. If I didn’t get the Manny Pacquiao fight, I was going to fight Ugas for the WBA. But I got the Pacquiao fight, so I put Ugas on the backburner.
“Once I get that belt, like I told Al, I want that fight with Crawford,” said Spence. “If it doesn’t happen, then I’ll probably move up or something because I don’t want to try and fight somebody that doesn’t have any interest anymore.
“He [Crawford] doesn’t want to fight me anymore, but with Manny Pacquiao, he didn’t want to fight him for five years, but he still wanted to fight Manny Pacquiao.
“I don’t get it. If I don’t get that fight [with Crawford], I’ll probably move up,” said Spence.
Given that Crawford wants a 50-50 split, it’s safe to say that Spence won’t be able to negotiate a fight with him.
If Spence knocks out Manny Pacquiao on August 21st to become a three-belt champion at 147, Crawford will be lucky if he’s given a 70-30 split.
Spence would be in the right to offer Crawford an 80-20 split after he takes Pacquiao’s scalp.
Errol moving to 154 after 2 more fights
“I probably got two more fights [at 147] after Pacquiao,” Spence said. “He’s got the WBA belt.
After I take that, then I’m going to go across the street [to Top Rank] and see what they’re talking about, and if they’re not talking about nothing [with Crawford], then I’m going up to 154.
“Terence Crawford has been trying to get that fight against Pacquiao for how many years now?” said Spence. “It’s been excuses after excuses for Bob. Pacquiao doesn’t care who he fights.
“He’ll fight anybody if the money is right and everything lines up correctly, Pacquiao would have fought him [Crawford]. It didn’t line up for whatever reason. I say blame Bob,” said Spence.
