Terence Crawford vs. Shawn Porter | Sky Sports - 20 November 2021

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Sources: Terence Crawford, Shawn Porter strike deal for Nov. 20 welterweight title bout

Terence Crawford and Shawn Porter have struck a deal for a welterweight title fight on Nov. 20 at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay on ESPN+ PPV, multiple sources tell ESPN, avoiding a purse bid that was scheduled for noon ET where the rights to the fight were slated to be auctioned off.

The pact ends weeks of negotiations between Top Rank, which promotes Crawford, and PBC, which handles Porter. The two sides rarely do business, with a pair of fights between heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder being a rare exception.

Unlike those fights, this will not be a joint pay-per-view with Fox, the network that has a deal with PBC. Top Rank will promote and lead the event in association with PBC.

Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), the WBO welterweight champion, has one fight left on his deal with Top Rank, sources tell ESPN, and could leave the promotion after this fight.

He last fought in November when he defended his title with a 4th-round TKO of faded contender Kell Brook in Las Vegas.

Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs), a former welterweight title holder, is known for his relentless pressure style and always delivers exciting scraps.

ESPN's No. 4 welterweight, Porter will represent the toughest challenge of Crawford's career, on paper. The Omaha, Nebraska, native turns 34 next month, and while his impressive ring work earned him the No. 2 ranking on ESPN's pound-for-pound list, it's the result of the eye test more than whom he's beaten.

Crawford's best win came in 2016, a unanimous-decision victory over former champion Viktor Postol. He's long been challenged for his lack of top-flight opposition despite his standing in the sport. A convincing victory over a fighter like Porter would prove he's more than deserving of the recognition he's received all along -- No. 1 in ESPN's welterweight rankings.

[peter barlow]

Great fight, two top guys going at it. I reckon Crawford wins probably on points.

[gregregegg]

Love to know what toprank had to pay to keep porter away from purse bids. always nervy to take a deal just befor an auction.

Great fight, both a bit inactive, both a bit old, but hopefuly both turn up prime and go at it.

Who has craw fought that presents the challanges of porter? noone, so it will be interesting to see how he handles it. heavy, strong, rough, and tough. Bit like jeff 'the hornet' horn i guess....

[Manchester Hitman]

Sky sports schedule is starting to look
really healthy

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Sky sports schedule is starting to look
really healthy

Thanks to TR.

One of the best promotions in the world. Always has cards on the go, consistently.

[emallini]

Very nice

[THEBUTCH]

Porter "always delivers exciting scraps" Do me a favour

Anyway, Crawford wins all day long

[JxhDel.]

This will be a run for Bud's money, Porter will scrap like a madman.

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This will be a run for Bud's money, Porter will scrap like a madman.

Until he pisses Bud off.. then we know what happens..

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Mike Coppinger has said:

Sources: Terence Crawford is guaranteed upward of $6 million. Shawn Porter will earn at least $4 million. They were on a 60/40 split for the purse bid and that’s the split they have now for their Nov. 20 ESPN PPV bout. Career-high for Crawford

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Terence Crawford to fight Shawn Porter for WBO welterweight title on November 20 in Las Vegas

The most stringent test of Terence Crawford's sensational talents will come against Shawn Porter on November 20 in Las Vegas | could Josh Taylor come later for Crawford?

Terence Crawford will have his toughest test yet against Shawn Porter in a WBO welterweight championship defence on November 20 in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay.

Undefeated Crawford will have the opportunity to further his claim to be the world's No 1 pound-for-pound fighter against a former two-time champion.

This fight represents Crawford's best moment to showcase his sensational talents against another of the welterweight division's prime contenders.

In 2019, Porter stretched Errol Spence Jr, Crawford's ultimate rival, to a split decision after a brilliant back-and-forth battle.

Porter has never been stopped - his only three defeats came in world title fights to Kell Brook, Spence Jr and Keith Thurman.

He owns victories over Yordenis Ugas, who recently beat Manny Pacquiao, and Danny Garcia.

Crawford, who has 28 KOs in his 37 wins, has beaten British pair Brook and Amir Khan inside the distance.

A three-weight world champion, he formerly held the undisputed super-lightweight title (which now belongs to Josh Taylor).

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Sky haven't said anything about this bout.. I just hope they don't slap it on PPV.

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Terence Crawford says Shawn Porter was the next best option for him after Manny Pacquiao

Crawford says he’s looking forward to his next upcoming title defense.

Crawford chatted with ESPN about his thoughts on the fight and why this bout ended up being a long time coming. Check out some excerpts of what Crawford had to say on the fight below.

Crawford on what took so long to get the Porter fight signed and sealed

“Well, I don’t know what took so long to get the fight done, but originally we was looking forward to securing the Manny Pacquiao and we couldn’t get that fight secured so we had to go on to the next best thing, and that was Shawn Porter. So we’re here now.”

On what he’s expecting when he faces Porter

“I’m expecting Shawn to be 1000% ready. He’s talented in the areas he’s talented in, but again, every fight that I fought since moving up is supposedly the biggest test and my biggest fight of my career and whatnot. But I’m just excited I get one of those guys from PBC to be able to silence my doubters.”

[brilo33]

interesting fight this crawford could come unstuck against a fighter like porter who goes the distance like thurman did, crawford is a very good boxer and could hurt shawn like he hasnt been before , crawford record is very padded i think he might lose this just feel he aint been active enough and these fights catch u out

[Glass Joe]

Crawford spent his best years fighting fighters way past their peak. I dont think the Spence fight will ever happen.

[margaret thatcher]

neither crawford or spence want it that bad

[THEBUTCH]

Crawford/Arum and Spence would take/make the fight....Haymon won't

[margaret thatcher]

not so sure about that, theres a lot of diva-ish stuff coming from the fighters, like ' i wont fight unless i get 70 percent' etc

[Kilburn]

Not exactly salivating over this one, but then that’s the case with pretty much every Crawford fight (whoever’s fault that is).

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Shawn Porter guarantees he will beat Terence Crawford in welterweight title fight



On why the Crawford fight is happening and got done

“I think maybe more than anybody else in this world I’ve probably wanted this fight. It was a result of after my fight with Errol Spence Jr people still wanted Errol Spence Jr-Terence Crawford but then I started hearing they might want to see me fight Terence. We had had a conversation long ago we weren’t gonna let nobody else talk us into fighting (one another) and just started to think about it and was like ‘wow, that would be a great fight.’

“After my fight in 2020 I was like ‘if it’s not Terence Crawford I’m not getting back in the ring.’ And I think I made that agreement with myself and I never told my dad and my dad was still pushing me to get in the ring earlier this year and that never happened so I was just holding on. The WBO has my love and respect forever because you talk about who wanted the fight the most, who made this fight happen, I think if the WBO didn’t step up and do what they did we may not be getting this fight.”

On if he thinks he’s facing the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport today

“Canelo is my #1 guy, and Terence, he’s right up there...If we talking the welterweight division, I’m fighting the next best guy to myself...It is (my toughest opponent thus far) because I think more than Errol Spence Jr, more than Keith Thurman, Terence Crawford is the most versatile fighter in the world. I think it’s a track race between he and I and you pick who finishes in 9.6 and who finishes in 9.62 — it’s that close.

“I think he and I are the most athletic fighters in the world in boxing and I think he and I both have a lot of attributes...It’s a tall order but I’m used to that.”

On if he feels like he’s at his peak in terms of physical capability mixed with world-level professional experience

“It’s a very sweet spot. My dad has always taught me boxing is just like life...you know at 33, somehow, someway, you’re wiser than you were when you were 26 and at 26 you just knew that was as smart as you were gonna be...seven years later you look up and you’re just different, you’re better, and you’re more equipped and prepared. The fortunate side of that for me is I’ve always protected my body...in a lot of ways I’m preserved. Terence Crawford is also preserved.

“Terence Crawford has not been in any wars, he does not get injured in training, he does not have heart failure the week before a match and not show up like the Terence Crawford that we all know. So that’s even the cooler part of getting in the ring with him, we’ve never seen him on a bad night. You can’t say that about Shawn Porter, you’ve seen some bad nights from Shawn Porter. We’ve seen bad nights from other fighters, we can’t say that about Terence Crawford and I love that.

“This, for me, is me simply wanting to prove that I am as good as I know that I am, that people may not know...if there was one fight that I could say that after this fight I want everybody to say ‘Shawn Porter was great’ this is the fight.

“I guarantee I win this fight. Guarantee it.”

[Counter-puncher]

i don't like his fighting style much but it's difficult not to like pretty much everything else about Porter

[THEBUTCH]

True. His style (mostly) stinks, but he comes over well when I've seen him interviewed.

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Press Release

Top Rank Pay-Per-View Exclusively on ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT – Tickets starting at $54 go on sale Monday, Oct. 4 at 10 a.m. PT

Pound-for-pound star Terence “Bud” Crawford has called out the welterweight superstars for years. His long wait for a legacy-defining fight is now over. Crawford will defend his WBO welterweight world title and unbeaten record Saturday, Nov. 20 against two-time welterweight champion and WBO No. 1 contender “Showtime” Shawn Porter at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with TGB Promotions, Crawford-Porter will be a Top Rank PPV exclusively on ESPN+ in the United States at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Tickets starting at $54 go on sale Monday, Oct. 4 at 10 a.m. PT and can be purchased by visiting AXS.com. Undercard information will be announced shortly.

“This is a fight that reminds me of all the great welterweight battles of the 1980s and 90s, two prime fighters unafraid to tackle the biggest challenge available to them,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “Terence has wanted a challenge like this for a very long time, and I am confident he will rise to the occasion. Shawn Porter, however, is not an easy night for any fighter.”

“I’ve been calling out the top welterweights since I moved up to 147 in 2018, and I’m excited that Shawn stepped up,” Crawford said. “This fight will bring out the best in me and showcase parts of my game that the world hasn’t seen yet. On November 20, I will silence my doubters and prove that I am the best welterweight in the world.”

Porter said, “I’ve wanted this fight for a long time and now my patience has paid off. Throughout my career, I’ve taken on the best and proven myself as a man who gives 100 percent in everything I do. Terence Crawford is a great, versatile fighter who is very athletic just like myself. We are the two best welterweights in the world, and on November 20, we get a chance to prove who is the best. Fight fans can expect a great show that night and, with this victory, I will cement myself as the best welterweight of this era.”

Matt Kenny, Vice President, Programming & Acquisition, ESPN added, “We are thrilled to present this blockbuster welterweight showdown exclusively on ESPN+ PPV. This is the kind of fight that boxing fans dream of and we are looking forward to a tremendous event on November 20.”

Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), the three-weight world champion from America’s heartland, Omaha, Nebraska, has made four defenses of his world title since knocking off Jeff “The Hornet” Horn in June 2018. A mainstay near the upper rungs of the mythical pound-for-pound rankings, Crawford has been a world champion since March 2014. He defeated WBO lightweight world champion Ricky Burns on enemy soil in Scotland and made his first title defense in front of the Omaha faithful with a ninth-round stoppage over Yuriorkis Gamboa. Crawford became the first man in the four-belt era to become the undisputed junior welterweight champion, and he is 4-0 with four knockouts since moving up to welterweight. His knockout streak of eight dates back to July 2016, when he notched a one-sided decision over Viktor “The Iceman” Postol at MGM Grand Garden Arena to unify two of the junior welterweight world titles. Crawford is coming off last November’s fourth-round knockout over Kell Brook inside the MGM Grand Las Vegas Bubble.

Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs), a 13-year pro from Akron, Ohio, first tasted championship glory in December 2013 when he outfought the previously undefeated Devon Alexander to win the IBF welterweight title. He knocked out two-weight world champion Paulie Malignaggi in his first title defense before Brook edged him by majority decision in August 2014. Over the next seven years, Porter continued fighting the welterweight elite, becoming a two-time world champion in 2018 when he toppled Danny Garcia to win the WBC welterweight title. He defended that title against future Manny Pacquiao conqueror Yordenis Ugas before taking Errol Spence Jr. to the limit in a September 2019 title unification tilt. After dropping a split decision to Spence, Porter regrouped with a one-sided decision over Sebastian Formella in August 2020 to set up the Crawford showdown.

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