When it comes to the highly-anticipated Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford undisputed welterweight championship fight July 29, one of its biggest points of contention has been which boxer handled Shawn Porter better.
Ahead of their mega bout, Spence and Crawford each sat down with Premier Boxing Champions separately to discuss just that.
Here are their findings and sticking points:
Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter
How Porter entered his welterweight title unification fight with Spence
“Showtime” Shawn Porter walked into the Staples Center in Los Angeles as the reigning WBC welterweight title, riding a four-fight win streak which included a split-decision title defense victory over a rugged Yordenis Ugas back in March of the same year.
Result: Spence defeats Porter by split decision to become the unified welterweight world champion; September 28, 2019
The bout saw “The Truth” enduring turbulence and cut for the first time in his career only to storm back with an opportunistic 11-round flash knockdown that helped power his way to victory on two of the three judges’ cards.
Crawford’s counterpunch to Spence's win
“I feel like if [Spence] didn’t get the knockdown in the late rounds that Shawn clearly had the victory in the bag,” Crawford told PBC of how he saw the Spence-Porter fight playing out.
Terence Crawford vs. Shawn Porter
How Porter entered his fight challenging for Crawford’s WBO welterweight title
Porter entered this bout having bounced back from his loss to Spence with a unanimous decision over Sebastian Formella in August 2020, though the victory over the German boxer came a lot harder than expected for “Showtime,” the former world champ.
Result: Crawford produces 10-round TKO of Porter to defend WBO welterweight title; November 20, 2021
Crawford flat out believes that his performance against Porter was superior than that of Spence’s handling of Porter.
“I got the stoppage,” Crawford said. “He wasn’t able to get the stoppage.”
Spence, though, doesn’t agree at all. “The Truth” believes that he turned Porter into a different fighter after beating him nearly two years prior.
Spence’s counterpunch to Crawford's win
“[Porter] wasn’t the same fighter when he fought Terence Crawford,” Spence said bluntly. “If you look back — after he fought me, he fought Sebastian at 147 pounds and he definitely did not look the same. He looked like a lot was taken out of him with my fight and then he went on to fight Terence Crawford. I feel like there it was one foot in and one foot out because he was talking about he wanted to retire.
Spence added: “[Porter] went on his [YouTube] channel and said he wasn’t doing the things that his dad wanted him to do and some of the stuff he felt like was unnecessary (in preparing for Crawford), so that shows you there.
“And then, he gassed out versus Terence Crawford. He was saying, he was trying to pace himself. Like when have we ever known Shawn Porter to try to pace himself, talking about gassing out and getting tired?”
Spence’s final thoughts
“I feel like my fight with Shawn Porter was better just because on Shawn Porter, I feel like he wasn’t the same fighter when he fought Terence Crawford. And I beat him when he was the WBC welterweight champion of the world so that says a lot too. He wasn’t a champion when Terence Crawford beat him and he just didn’t look the same at all.”
Crawford’s final thoughts
“Comparing my performance against Shawn Porter versus Errol Spence, I feel as if I performed in a greater fashion than Errol did against Shawn Porter.”