Terence Crawford vs Shawn Porter fight live updates

The American gets the chance to silence his critics when he puts his unbeaten record and his WBO welterweight crown on the line against the dangerous Shawn Porter.

The battle began with a series of dramatic exchanges with Porter by the far more aggressive fighter.

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The 34-year-old Crawford is widely regarded as one of the world’s best pound-for-pound boxers, compiling a flawless 37-0 (28 by knockout) record during a 13-year professional career.

But despite Crawford’s impressive resume, the skilful southpaw from Nebraska has faced persistent criticism about the quality of his opponents on his journey to the top.

That all ends with Porter today.

Round by updates for Crawford-Porter

Round 1 — Porter advances with an aggressive flurry as soon as the bell sounds. Crawford is forced onto the ropes. A tentative Crawford is just studying his opponent.

Round 2 — A huge round where both fighters landed sweet jabs on the inside. Porter was tagged twice coming in, but also landed at least one swinging hook. The judges should have the fight 19-19.

Round 3 — Porter and Crawford both land shots. A bad, bloody cut has opened up on the right eye of Porter, but it is the result of a headbutt. Porter falls over, but it is not scored as a knockdown.

Round 4 — Crawford has begun to win the exchanges with his counter-punching. Porter is still sneaking some shots through as he comes forward. The judges should have the fight 38-38 after four rounds. Porter is given a nudge by Crawford and falls into the ropes. “Man, that was intense,” Top Rank boxing commentator Bernardo Osuna says.

Round 5 — An even round where Crawford landed a few more clean shots.

Round 6 — Another even round where Porter begins to land some good body shots. Crawford is left with a bloody cut on his face after a second accidental clash of heads. The judges should have the score Crawford 58-56.

Round 7 — Porter is continuing to be the more active fighter and gets some reward with a big right hand mid-way through the round. It is a clear round to Porter in a very even fight.

Round 8 — Crawford lands several shots to the head in a flurry to start the round. However, Porter lands the best punch of the round before Crawford responds with a clean jab of his own. The fight could ver easily be even at 76-76 after eight rounds.

Why Crawford failed to win the world over

Through little fault of his own, fights against the welterweight division’s best fighters — Errol Spence, Keith Thurman and Manny Pacquiao — have remained elusive

One of his most notable victories was a demolition of Australian Jeff Horn in 2018.

Crawford, however, will finally get his wish of tackling an elite opponent on Sunday when he takes on Porter at the Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas.

The challenge ahead of Crawford is reflected in the reported fight purses. According to ESPN earlier this year, the fighters’ camps had agreed to a 60-40 split in Crawford’s favour. It is a result that is expected to see Crawford walk away with $8.3 million with Porter to pocket more than $5.5 million in a purse of $14 million.

At the start of Sunday’s Top Rank broadcast of the event, commentator Bernado Osuna described the fight as “legacy defining” for Crawford.

ESPN’s Mark Kriegel said the fight will decide if Crawford is “the king of the division and an all-time great”.

While Porter (31-3-1, 17 knockouts) starts as a significant underdog, he represents a step up in class for Crawford, who defeated Britain’s Kell Brook with a fourth-round knockout in his most recent outing a year ago.

Crawford though believes that even if he scores a convincing win against Porter on Saturday, it might not be enough to quieten all of his naysayers.

“It depends on the fashion that I beat Shawn,” Crawford said. “Everybody that beat Shawn before won on a split decision. So if I beat Shawn in a fashion that I beat everybody else (by knockout), then they’re going to say ‘Oh, but it wasn’t the same Shawn Porter.’” Crawford meanwhile took a respectful tone towards Porter in the final press conference before the fight, even while predicting victory.

“I respect everything that Shawn does,” Crawford said. “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.” Porter has not fought since a unanimous decision victory over Sebastian Formella in Los Angeles in 2020. Prior to that, his most recent fight was a split decision defeat to Errol Spence Jr. in September 2019.

Porter is unfazed by his underdog status, and looked relaxed as he faced Crawford in their mid-week press conference.

Crawford weighed in at 146.4 pounds and Porter weight in at 146.6 pounds.

— with AFP

Originally published as Terence Crawford vs Shawn Porter live: Insane drama leaves champ on the brink