By Huck Allen: Shawn Porter believes Terence Crawford is the better fighter than Errol Spence Jr ahead of their undisputed clash later this year. Errol holds three titles at welterweight following his tenth-round knockout win over Yordenis Ugas last Saturday night.
It’s going to take more than Porter rating Crawford as #1 for him to prove it in the real sense. He’s going to have to out try and beat Spence in the trenches, and that’s not going to be easy for him to do.
Crawford has never been in a war during his career, and he might not be equipped for the type of combat that Spence will be bringing.
Spence and Crawford will meet before the end of 2022 to prove who the top dog is in the 147-lb division, but as far as Porter is concerned, he already knows who the better fighter is between them.
It makes sense that Porter rates WBO welterweight champion Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) above Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) because he was knocked out in the tenth round by the Nebraska native last November.
In Porter’s fight against Spence in 2019, he lost a 12-round split decision in a fight that he and many boxing fans believe he did enough to deserve the victory.
“The best welterweight right now is Terence Crawford,” said Shawn Porter to The Last Stand Podcast. “There were a number of things that I saw, felt, sensed, the whole nine. He was just a little bit better than anybody I’ve been in the ring with.
“I got a feeling that Errol would confirm this. I think coming into the ring, Errol was prepared to beat me at my game, and Terence was prepared to beat me at his game mentally. There’s a difference.
“I think if Errol did it again, he’d do it a little bit differently. The outcome might even be the same, but I think he’d at least try and do it a little bit differently.
“Get in the ring with Terence again, he’ll do it exactly the way he did it. That’s the difference between those two. And if anything, Errol has learned from that.
“Absolutely,” said Porter when asked if Crawford vs. Spence will be an explosive fight. “Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence will be an explosion, I guarantee it because going back to the mentality.
“Errol likes being the commander in chief, likes to control the ring, likes to do what he wants to do. Against me, he chose to TRY to beat me at my own game.
“Terence, ‘I’m coming into the ring, this is what I’m going to do, stop me.’ You got two guys saying, ‘Stop me,’ and you can’t beat that, especially when you have the speed, the movement, and the power.
“All the intangibles that it takes to be a boxer. Both sides of the ring can do it, and you don’t get that very often,” said Porter.
