This is a win-win situation for Shawn Porter.
If he wins, he gets a signature win that probably puts him in the Hall of Fame. If he loses, it isn’t that big of a deal because he will forever have the boxing world’s respect for fighting everyone in an era where fighting mostly fights Walmart greeters.
This is all about Terence Crawford.
Imagine being a great college football team but playing in a conference where everyone is trash.
People can see that you are great, but they don’t know how great you are because you haven’t had the opportunity to prove yourself.
Shawn Porter plays in the SEC, and Crawford is playing in the MAC.
For Crawford, this is like getting into the college football players and facing Oklahoma. It isn’t quite Alabama or Ohio State, but it is a legit big-time name that he needs to show he can dominate.
Just beating Shawn Porter isn’t enough.
We know Porter can be beaten. We know that you can get him on the ground. What we haven’t seen is someone beat him up and knock him out.
If Crawford wins a tough fight, he is no different from Kell Brook, Keith Thurman, or Errol Spence. To set himself apart, he needs to dominate and stop Crawford.
If he does that, he can legitimately claim he is the best fighter in the world.
Here is what Crawford had to say about the fight.
“I respect everything that Shawn does. Shawn is athletic, he can box, he can bang, he can move around in the ring, he can cut corners and take angles. I’m not going to sit here and say that I don’t respect anything that he does. I’m just going to say that I do a lot of things better than Shawn. I’m going to show him come Saturday.
“Once we signed that contract, the switch was already flipped and I can’t wait to go out there Saturday to display my talent and look good doing it. Until then, right now I’m just chilling, playing Call of Duty in the room by myself all day. I’ve been in the room all day isolating.”
Porter had this to say.
“I don’t think there’s too much that I can say to Bud that’s going to change the way he thinks about himself and the outcome of this fight. He can’t look at me and say, ‘I’m going to beat your ass’ and I’m going to believe that, and he knows that, and he won’t dare to do it. I could say the exact same thing he said, and I believe it.
“Terence, you know better than I do that you’ve matured. I feel like people see your personality and your character right now more than they’ve ever seen, but I feel like I’m still correct in saying that when the wrong Tweet or Instagram post goes up, you can get upset.
“There are people you can get to, and there are people that you can’t get to. I’m one of those people that you can’t get to, and I got a feeling that you can get to him quicker on the microphone than you can in the ring. In the ring, he is solid, but there may be something that is posted or said that might have an affect on him {during} the fight.
“I’m relaxing, I’m drinking water and just biding my time. I am a showtime fighter, and I can’t wait for showtime on ESPN+ PPV. I’m a really even-keeled type of guy. I like things to be easy, and fight week is always easy for me.”
In the end, Crawford knows if he loses this fight or just barely wins it, his legacy takes a hit.
I think we will see a very focused Crawford, and he will be the first fighter to stop Shawn Porter.
Bud by TKO in 11th