All questions about Terence Crawford were finally answered Saturday when the reigning WBO weight champion became the first boxer to finish “Showtime” Shawn Porter with a 10th round TKO at the Michelob ULTRA Arena.
We say he lacks a winning signature on his resume. He understood. We wonder if he’s in the same league as other elite heavyweights. He proved it. We asked him how he would deal with adversity. He showed us.
And, most importantly, we asked if he deserves to be near or at the top of the pound boxing rankings. Yes, yes he does.
THAN: Crawford retained the WBO heavierweight title with Shawn Porter’s 10th-half goal
Put some respect on his name.
Crawford not only did what Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman, Yordenis Ugas, Danny Garcia and others couldn’t by finishing Porter, but also did it in a way that made his supporters look like genius – and the naysayers appear like fools.
“You see what I did versus what he did,” Crawford said after the match, referring to Spence’s decisive win over Porter in 2019. “Who’s No. 1 in the weight class right now? ? You know who I want, I’ve been calling him all day. Maybe Spence will pull his tail off his ass and fight me.”
Just when you thought the temperature for the Crawford-Spence bout had cooled down, the undefeated boxer from Omaha heated his opponent to almost unbearable heights with one performance. extraordinary in front of a man who has terrified everyone.
And he Retire Porter.
It is certainly not easy. Although Crawford seemed to enjoy the air battle with Porter, the longtime friend proved to be a tough guy to break. Unlike Crawford’s 37 previous opponents, he was unable to fight his own fight. Porter’s constant pressure and physicality forced Crawford into every minute of the game. By the 10th round, the judges had given Crawford up, but barely. One judge gave Crawford two rounds while the other two judges led the WBO champion by one frame.
So then “Bud” had to go out and play.
THAN: Terence Crawford vs. Shawn Porter: A war that no one can afford to lose
Crawford’s evil alter ego got to the 10th round and quickly put Porter in his back with a powerful left-handed push to open the round. And if there’s one thing about “Bud,” it’s that he always finishes what he started with devastating style.
Smelling blood in the water, Crawford lunged at his wounded opponent and unleashed a barrage of ferocious punches that sent Porter back to the canvas. The two-time former champion smashed the tarp out of frustration but his father/coach had seen enough and waved the white flag. This happens to a boxer who rarely – if ever – gets seriously injured in a fight. His father had saved him from what he thought was about to perish.
The special victory that Crawford has ignored his entire career is finally his. Not to mention his 9th straight knockout. In the past five and a half years, no boxer has been able to reach the final against Terence Crawford. That is downright scary.
When Porter was asked about Crawford later, he simply called him “different.” The undefeated champion gave his definition of what it means:
“I think they refer to my flexibility and my ability to adjust,” says Crawford. “Not only that, but I also adjusted in such a way that I took all their strengths and turned it into their weakness.”
Indeed, Crawford turned Porter’s aggression against him in a way no other boxer could, and sent a loud warning shot to the rest of the 147-pound division that dared to challenge them.
THAN: Time to discuss Canelo Alvarez’s place among the all-time greats of boxing
And now Crawford will bet on himself for the next chapter of his career. After spending his early years under Bob Arum’s Top Rated advertising umbrella, Crawford will join a freelance agency, where advertising relationships won’t stand in the way of fights being made. . At least not for him. He then made his intentions clear.
“I’m pretty sure my decision has been made,” Crawford said, with Arum sitting next to him during his post-match press conference. “Bob can’t guarantee me a fight with Spence when I’m with him, so how can he guarantee me a fight with Spence when I’m not with him? I’m moving forward with my career right now and I wish everyone the best. ”
Arum often says less flattering things about Crawford, even though the former undisputed young welterweight champion has been near the top of the table for the past half-decade. He criticized his marketability and ability to sell tickets.
But Arum has not only witnessed Crawford at his best, but an arena full of riotous Las Vegas Crawford fans shows that, perhaps, the best is yet to come. “Bud”.
The only person standing in the way of Crawford being recognized as the best boxer in the world is undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez. It will be difficult for Crawford to overcome the depth of Canelo’s résumé, but he is chipping away at a performance like the one against Porter.
We asked how good Terence Crawford really is. He told us, without any certainty, that we would not honor his name by asking such silly things.
