SPORTS SHORTS 243: TERENCE CRAWFORD FACES SHAWN PORTER ON NOVEMBER 20, YORDENIS UGAS AIRS DISGUST ON WBA'S WELTERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 21 Oct 2021
Terence Crawford will battle Shawn Porter for the WBO world welterweight championship. The bout is set for November 20, 2021 at the Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
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Crawford nicknamed "Bud" is aged 34 years and from Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. with a record of 37–0 (28 KOs). The southpaw 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) fighter is the WBO welterweight champion, The Ring No. 4 ranked pound-for-pound fighter and a three-division world champion.
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Porter nicknamed "Showtime" is aged 33 years and from Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. with a record of 31–3–1 (17 KOs). The orthodox 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) fighter is a two-time former welterweight champion.
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On July 31, 2021, the WBO ordered Crawford to defend his welterweight title against the No. 2 ranked WBO contender Porter. The camps were not able to agree on the terms of the fight, so the WBO set a purse bid for September 2, 2021, which was later postponed until September 14.
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Crawford and Porter later made a deal for a 60-40 purse split and to schedule the fight on November 20 in Las Vegas, airing on ESPN+ PPV. The event will be jointly promoted by Crawford's promoter Top Rank with Porter's promoter Premier Boxing Champions.
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Crawford is guaranteed upward of $6 million, while Porter is guaranteed at least $4 million. The Porter fight could be the last bout on Crawford's multiyear contract with Top Rank.
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Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) will be making the fifth defense of the 147-pound title he won from Jeff Horn on June 9, 2018 by 9th round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
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Since that first fight at the welterweight division, Crawford has been searching for a fight against a big name boxer, but it was never realized. The reason issue was that practically every topnotch fighter in the tough welterweight division was signed by Al Haymon, who seldom agrees with Bob Arum.
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So Crawford was not able to fight Manny Pacquiao, Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman, and Danny Garcia and the Porter fight has just been arranged recently.
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"I'm very excited," Crawford, 33, told ESPN. "Now I can show my talent and maybe I can show something for the general public, something that they've never seen before. Because I don't believe that I've showed them my best yet."
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His best opponent so far was Viktor Postol, a former champion Crawford defeated by unanimous decision on July 23, 2016at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. for the WBO, WBC and The Ring light welterweight titles. Of all fighters he fought, Porter will be the best opponent of Crawford's career.
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Porter, on the other hand, had title fights with great fighters like Errol Spence, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and Yordenis Ugas. Porter is 2-2 in those opponents, winning against Garcia and Ugas and losing to Spence and Thurman.
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The loss to Spence showed Porter can compete with the best boxers. The scorecards were almost even before a 10th-round knockdown from Spence as Porter lost a split decision on September 28, 2019 at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S. losing his WBC welterweight title.
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Porter believes his superiority in experience is one of the essential elements of the fight. "It's extremely big ... experience means nothing if you don't use it, but my record speaks for itself," Porter told ESPN. "Everyone's seen what I've done, every experience that I've had, I've held onto them and I've used them to my advantage."
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The reigning WBA “Super” welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas has aired his annoyance on the sanctioning body's order to engage in a tournament at his division, which could interrupt his planned title unification with WBC/IBF champ Errol Spence (27-0, 21KOs).
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“It is disrespectful for the WBA to have a tournament to define their champion, when I am the super champion,” Ugas hollered in a public statement with a video further advancing his irritation over the WBA ruling.
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Ugas (27-4, 12KOs) was controversially bestowed the WBA "Super" title immediately after declaring Manny Pacquiao "Champion in recess" supposedly due to inactivity. Ugas successfully defended his title with a 12-round, unanimous decision win over Pacquiao last August 21 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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Ugas wasn't able to choose whoever he wants to fight next, which he prefers to be Errol Spence as he was ordered to join a four-man box-off to consolidate the WBA welterweight title.
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Jamal James (27-1, 12KOs), who was defeated by Ugas on August 12, 2016 at the Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, New York, was mandated to defend his WBA “World” title against Russian Radzhab Butaev (13-0, 10 KOs, 1 NC), with their bout taking place October 30 in Las Vegas.
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Ugas is tied to facing Lithuania’s Eimantas Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs, 1 ND), with the terms and conditions of the fight not yet agreed and the match does not satisfy the Cuban champion.
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Spence, Ugas and James all fight under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) promotions outfit. Stanionis has practically fought his entire career on PBC events, even if officially promoted by Richard Schaefer’s new Probellum promotional company.
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“I just beat a legend and I have a victory over regular champion Jamal James,” clarified Ugas. “WBA mandatory fights are always to fight for the regular title. I fought Abel and got promoted when Pacquiao was out of the sport. I have three questions for the WBA:
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Referring to the 14 WBA Super champions, he continued, “None of these 14 champions have mandatory fights imposed and their next fight will not unify [the] championship. Why that different treatment with me?”
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“I respect all the fighters. But what has [Stanionis] done in [14] fights of which 4 have been with fighters with more losses than won and only 4 years of career,” asked Ugas. “[H]is biggest victory was… against Dulorme that I [beat] 5 years ago, to have a shot at the WBA super champion title and ruin a unification fight?
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“The dream of every fighter is to be a champion, then to unify and that is my intention that I think I have earned. I am excited to be the first Cuban fighter to fight three championships in one night," he continued.
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"My team and I will reach the last consequences for our right. #SpenceUgas—a three-championship fight between two of the world's best welterweights is what fans want to see," concluded Ugas.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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