Comments made by unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. when Shawn Porter got pulled out of the Terence Crawford fight through father Kenny raise significant questions.
Porter was unhappy with the initial decision to pull him from the clash in the tenth round. Subsequently, though, the two-time welterweight king accepted it and retired.
With a rye chuckle at how things went down, Spence said: “If I were Shawn, I wouldn’t pay my daddy, lol.”
Many fans agree with the sentiments of Spence, as Porter was clearly in the fight and was visibly able to get through the last two minutes of the round on his bike.
If that was the case and the fight was so close, it may have been interesting to see what went down for those final two rounds.
We know Porter was four points down by then due to the scores at the end of the contest and the knockdowns. But who knows what would have gone down?
Porter coming close may have warranted a rematch he could have won, judging by his performance. Also, the nature of the battle with certainly a Fight of the Year contender up until that point.
All those question marks fall away, even with Spence’s opinion matching plenty. And now that Porter has walked out at 34, boxing has lost yet another 147-pound star.
The loss comes on the back of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao bowing out over the past few years. It leaves just a handful of big-name welterweights left.
It may now come down to Gervonta Davis and Josh Taylor making moves up in weight to reignite the division.
ERROL SPENCE
Spence and Crawford are left to duke it out for who is the best at the weight. WBN sees Spence having the best resume, but Crawford holds more accolades.
So, where do you draw the line? – I’m afraid that’s only a debate that can get settled in the ring. And why everybody needs to see that fight made next.
Phil Jay – Editor of World Boxing News since 2010 with over one billion views. Follow WBN on Twitter @WorldBoxingNews.
