Terence Crawford has long been searching for a big fight at 147lbs, now he doesn’t need to look any further after the WBO ordered its title holder to face two-time world champion Shawn Porter.
WBO welterweight king Crawford is widely regarded as one of the sport’s finest fighters, but has been marooned by boxing politics since moving up to the 147lbs division.
With virtually every top welterweight who can cup a fist signed to Al Haymon’s PBC organisation, the talented Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) has scratched around for meaningful fights whilst signed for Top Rank on the other side of a promotional divide.
The PBC-promoted Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) is the major name Omaha’s Crawford has been craving to show he is the premier 147-pounder on the planet. Cleveland’s Porter has mixed it with some of the best at welterweight during two stints as a world champion and perennial contender, having pushed Errol Spence and Keith Thurman close and defeated the likes of Danny Garcia and Yordenis Ugas.
Late on Wednesday night, the WBO ordered Crawford to face former IBF and WBC champion Porter with both parties having 30 days to negotiate the fight before it heads to purse bids on August 20. Crawford could still, of course, decide to relinquish his WBO belt, but this fight seems too good to miss.
Porter was rated No.2 by the WBO behind rising Texan star Vergil Ortiz so the sanctioning body’s order was something of a bolt from the blue. WBO champion Crawford is reportedly entering the last fight of his contract with Top Rank.