By Allan Fox: WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) took care of business in halting his mandatory challenge Shawn Porter (31-4-1, 17 KOs) in the 10th round in a competitive fight at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
The outcome was still in doubt going into the championship rounds, as the former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Porter had given Crawford fits with his feints and aggressive attacking style.
It was difficult picking the winner of many of the rounds because both guys were landing well. Crawford was landing the harder shots, but Porter was connecting more with his high volume work rate.
In the 1oth round, Crawford nailed Porter with a perfect shot that dropped him. Porter got back to his feet but was dropped a second time.
At this point, Porter’s trainer had the fight stopped, which was obviously disappointing because he looked like he was still cogent and ready to continue.
Porter’s dad is his trainer, and you have to wonder whether it’s a wise idea for him to be using a family member in his corner. Of course, as tired as Porter was, his chances of winning the 11th and 12th rounds were virtually nil.
He didn’t have enough left at that point in the fight to win the final two rounds, and you can bet that Crawford would have been going for the knockout. Porter, 33, is starting to show his age, so it’s not surprising that Crawford wore him down and got the stoppage.
Crawford was ahead on all three of the judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage:
- 86-85
- 86-85
- 87-84
All in all, it was a good fight, but not the greatest. We’ll have to see what direction Crawford wants to go in from here.
With the way Errol Spence Jr. departed the arena tonight moments after the fight ended, it’s safe to say we’re not going to see a fight between him and Crawford next.
If Spence isn’t going to take the fight with Crawford next, it’s possible that Top Rank will match Bud with undisputed light welterweight champion Josh Taylor. Last week, Bob Arum of Top Rank said that Taylor would be moving up to 147 to potentially challenge for a world title in 2022.
A fight that a lot of boxing fans would like to see is Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (28-0, 26 KOs) against Crawford. Ennis, 24, is a bigger puncher than Porter, and a lot younger.
That’s a fight where Crawford would need to worry about the punches he’s getting hit with because Ennis is no joke. If Crawford lets Ennis connect with as many shots as Porter did tonight, it’s difficult to imagine him lasting more than three or four rounds.
Ennis has too much power for Crawford to let him land at the same clip that Porter did.
