The purse bid hearing for the enticing welterweight confrontation between WBO king Terence Crawford and two-time world champion Shawn Porter has been pushed back to September 14 after both parties requested an extension.
Crawford-Porter was due to head to purse bids at the WBO’s headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday, but that deadline was bumped back 13 days after both teams asked for more time to finalise a deal.
“The purse bid for the mandatory bout between WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and challenger Shawn Porter has been moved to September 14, following a request from the promoters of both fighters, Top Rank (Crawford) and Tom Brown’s TGB Promotions (Porter) [on behalf of Premier Boxing Champions]. Both companies requested additional time to continue ongoing negotiations,” said the WBO in a statement.
The Puerto Rico based sanctioning body had planned to live stream the results of the purse bid on Thursday. Now there is hope a deal can be reached, assuming the delay isn’t a stalling tactic on either side.
Three-weight champion Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) is undoubtedly one of the most gifted fighters in boxing though he has faced criticism for his less than stellar opposition since moving up to 147lbs. That hasn’t really been the fault of the Top Rank promoted Crawford with most of the welterweight elite – including Porter – signed to Al Haymon’s PBC organisation. The seasoned Porter (31-3-1, 17KOs) has beaten Danny Garcia and pushed Errol Spence and Keith Thurman to the wire, and is an excellent gauge of Crawford’s standing in the division.
When the WBO ordered Crawford to face the highly-respected Porter in July, a long-awaited opportunity for the champion to underline his credentials at 147lbs appeared to finally present itself – unless, of course, boxing politics intervene again.