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Mike CoppingerESPN
LAS VEGAS — Terence Crawford jumped up and down in jubilation. Or maybe it was an exorcism. For years, he has been hounded by questions surrounding his resume — no more.
Crawford notched the biggest win of his career on Saturday at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay with a 10th-round TKO victory over Shawn Porter to retain his WBO welterweight title.
The finish came at 1 minute, 21 seconds and marked the first time in Porter’s career that he has been stopped.
Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) made his fifth consecutive title defense, but it didn’t come easy — far from it. Porter (31-4-1, 17 KOs) applied relentless pressure in a rugged, tit-for-tat battle before Crawford scored two knockdowns in Round 10, leading Porter’s father and trainer, Kenny Porter, to throw in the towel.
Crawford’s first knockdown resulted from a counter left cross to the face as Porter swung wildly. Moments later, a barrage of punches punctuated by a right hook sent Porter to the canvas again before his father jumped up in the corner to grab the ref’s attention.
“His dad did the right thing by stopping it because I was coming with a vengeance,” said Crawford, who was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage: 86-85, 87-84 and 86-85. ESPN scored it 86-85.
Errol Spence Jr., ESPN’s No. 1 welterweight, was ringside, a prelude, fans hope, to an eventual meeting with Crawford. The matchup remains one of the biggest that can be made in boxing and would determine the best 147-pounder in the world.
“You see what I did compared to what he did,” Crawford said, referring to Spence’s split-decision victory over Porter in September 2019. ” Who’s No. 1 in the welterweight division now? You know who I want. I’ve been calling him out all day. Maybe Spence will get his tail out of his butt and fight me.”
Crawford outlanded Porter 98-79 in total punches and 33-12 in jabs, according to CompuBox. He has a nine-fight knockout streak dating to December 2016.