Retired former two-time welterweight champion Shawn Porter is expecting a fight of two halves when WBC, WBA and IBF welterweight champion Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr 28-0 (22) faces WBO counterpart Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford 39-0 (30) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
Porter, who lost a split decision to Spence in 2019 and was stopped in 10 competitive frames against Crawford two years later, is expecting the early rounds to be tactical before both boxers began opening up around the halfway mark of the contest.
“This is truly a 50-50 fight because both of these guys are capable physically, emotionally and mentally, the whole nine [yards],” said Porter to Premier Boxing Champions.
“They both have poker faces. I’ve never seen either of them hurt, bothered or frustrated in the ring with me. Maybe with Errol, but that moment came and went very quickly and we saw how he handled that. This is what boxing is all about.
“I think both guys hear the 10-second clap and they try to initiate. If the moment’s there, I see them both let it go. In the ring with me, I’ve seen them both let it go.
“I’ve seen both where in moments, ‘I got to close this round’. They’re going to go for it and the other is going to be right there with it.
“I think it’s going to be more tactical for four or five rounds. I think it’s going to be more tactical than anything.
“We see the animosity that they have and we see the energy that they have with one another, but they’re both extremely intelligent. Intelligence does not say, ‘go get him’. Intelligence says, ‘be smart when I go get him’.”
Porter continued: “I think there’s going to be three or four adjustments made, but we could have some really small adjustments made from a standpoint of one wanting to counter-punch and one wanting to move to use the ring.
“I think both guys are going to have to pull everything out that they have in the toolbox. If I had to say one has more in the toolbox, I think it’s possible that we haven’t seen everything that Terence can do.
“I think Errol is an aggressive fighter. ‘This is who I am. I’ll counter-punch if I need to, but this is where I’m most effective and most comfortable coming after you. I’ll take a little bit to give it,’ but that’s who he is.
“With Terence, he has the ability to maybe make some more subtle adjustments than that, but I just think that even from the X’s and O’s perspective, we’re going to be looking at some high-speed chess and we’re going to be seeing some stuff where we’re like, ‘Oh, where did that come from?’.”
