By Geno McGahee
Terence Crawford, 37-0, 28 KO’s, the WBO welterweight champion, is in a similar position that Deontay Wilder was a few years back. He is the guy that nobody wants to face and doesn’t have a great deal of leverage to get what he wants. Errol Spence, the WBC/IBF champion, has noted no ambition to face Crawford, hinting that he may fight Canelo Alvarez at a catch weight fight. The Canelo fight will not happen and Spence knows that. He is just trying to get the Crawford topic dropped and it leaves Crawford in limbo due to the different promoters.
Crawford needs a measuring stick to create some public demand for a Spence fight. The perfect opponent is Shawn Porter, 31-3-1, 17 KO’s, a fighter that has defeated fighters like Danny Garcia and Adrien Broner and fought Spence to a split decision defeat. Porter has never been defeated clearly. Every defeat has been close and debatable.
Recently, an offer of 1 million dollar has been offered to Porter for a fight with Crawford. It was quickly turned down, but I don’t think this is the last we’ll hear of it. Despite Crawford being champion, he needs to start taking on these PBC welterweights and clearing them out, leading to a Spence match.
When the Crawford-Porter match is made, it will be must watch TV for the boxing fans. Porter is relentless and strong and Crawford has yet to face a guy like him. Let’s hope he makes a deal.
