Terence Crawford has made the statement he needed to, cementing his status as one of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters with a TKO win over Shawn Porter.
A spirited Porter took it right to the WBO welterweight champion until the 10th round when he was knocked down twice, with the second seeing Porter’s father and trainer Kenny throw the towel in.
Speaking after the fight, Porter admitted to have been surprised by his father’s call but backed the decision.
“He’s doing what he knows he needs to do,” he said.
“I didn’t expect that. We never had a conversation like that. We just have an unspoken understanding that if he sees what he needs to see, he’s going to do what he did. I didn’t expect that.
“Yes [I could have gone on].
“The punches he was catching me [were] too clean. I think that’s what my dad saw. I saw and felt it. I just think my timing was a little off, great fighter over there wouldn’t allow me to catch my rhythm. He’s a dynamite dude in and out of the ring.”
Crawford had compiled a flawless 37-0 (28 by knockout) record during his 13-year professional career but Sunday’s WBO welterweight title was a completely different test entirely.
A test that he welcomed, a chance to finally silence his critics against an elite welterweight challenger who had proven himself capable of pushing the best of the best.
Porter is a two-time champion and pushed Errol Spence Jr. to his absolute limits in 2019.
Crawford, meanwhile, through no fault of his own was yet to face the truly elite fighters of the welterweight division – Errol Spence, Keith Thurman and Manny Pacquiao.
