It's Crawford-Porter fight day!!
Plus: Andrade crushes Quigley and a ton more
LAS VEGAS — It’s been a good fight week at Mandalay Bay and I couldn’t me more pumped up for tonight’s Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter fight. It’s a real fight between two of the best welterweights in the world.
Crawford, who will be defending his WBO title for the fifth time, finally has the major fight he has yearned for since arriving in the division in 2018 and immediately winning the belt from Jeff Horn.
Porter, who has already faced a who’s who of the best 147-pounders — Errol Spence Jr., Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman and Yordenis Ugas — has a chance to become a three-time welterweight titlist against his good friend Crawford.
The fight (ESPN+ PPV, 9 p.m. ET, $69.99), which will take place at the sold-out Michelob ULTRA Arena, not only is an outstanding one on paper it’s also been a terrific writing fight with many storylines and angles.
I’m here covering the fight for RingTV.com, the website for Ring magazine. Here are the stories on the show I wrote for Thursday and Friday. Please check them out and enjoy the fight!
Crawford finally gets the big fight he has wanted for years: Since moving up to welterweight in 2018 and knocking out Jeff Horn in the ninth round to take his WBO world title the question has haunted Crawford: When would he get a big fight? It took three years but now he has it against Porter. Read about Crawford’s thoughts on his trek to get it: https://www.ringtv.com/630714-crawford-on-porter-its-a-big-opportunity-to-show-the-world-why-im-the-best-fighter-in-the-world/
The weigh-in: Crawford and Porter both were in immaculate condition at Friday’s weigh-in inside the Islander Ballroom at Mandalay Bay. Crawford weighed 146.4 pounds, just under the 147-pound division limit, and Porter was 146.6 pounds. Read about the weigh-in scene and undercard here: https://www.ringtv.com/630751-weigh-in-alert-terence-crawford-146-4-shawn-porter-146-6/
Crawford, Top Rank have decisions to make as his contract is expiring: Crawford heads into the highest-profile fight of his career with one of the subplots is his impending free agency. Will he remain with Top Rank company? Will the company want to retain his services? With he have other suitors? https://www.ringtv.com/630664-terence-crawford-is-not-in-a-hurry-to-renew-his-contract-and-neither-is-bob-arum/
Massive fight week notebook: Porter lives in Las Vegas but he has rarely fought there and is thrilled he is at home to face Crawford; fight officials; Crawford and Porter discuss their toughest fights; more: https://www.ringtv.com/630679-dan-rafaels-notebook-crawford-and-porter-reveal-their-biggest-challenges-so-far-and-more/
Crawford, Porter keep it strictly professional: Crawford and Porter don’t hide that they are friends, but that doesn’t mean they are not extremely driven to beat up the other man. Despite the impending violence they intend to inflict upon each other, however, they have remained extremely respectful throughout the promotion, almost to the point of making it boring, like at the final news conference: https://www.ringtv.com/630660-crawford-and-porter-trade-anything-but-barbs-in-a-business-like-press-conference/
Falcao faces Volny in search of elusive title shot: Middleweight contender Esquiva Falcao, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist from Brazil, squares off with Patrice Volny in an IBF title elimination fight in the co-feature. I wrote about Falcao’s slog to this eliminator, which, if he wins, will make him mandatory for the Gennadiy Golovkin-Ryota Murata unification fight winner:
Andrade crushes Quigley
Demetrius Andrade retained his WBO middleweight title for the fifth time with an explosive three-knockdown performance as he blew away overmatched Jason Quigley, who he knocked out in the second of the main event of Matchroom Boxing’s card on DAZN on Friday night at SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs), 33, a southpaw from Providence, Rhode Island, is not known for short fights or power-packed ones, but he predicted this type of fight a few days beforehand.
“I’ve been training to be destructive. Someone is going to stop this fight. Put your house on it,” Andrade said.
He was correct. He started fast by dropping Quigley (19-2, 14 KOs), 30, of Ireland, with a right hand to the temps about a minute into the fight. Andrade continued to dominate in the second round, scoring two more knockdowns, forcing referee Arthur Mercante Jr. to stop the bout at 2 minutes, 24 seconds.
It was the kind of performance Andrade can add to his highlight reel and hope it will help land the major fight he craves since he has long been on of boxing’s most avoided fighters.
“I did what I said I would do, I looked good and felt good,” Andrade said. “I delivered a message tonight.
“Every time I get in the ring I do something different, and I can do it all, and whatever I need. Patience. So many times, you see people get knocked down and then they knock the other guy down. So, I keep patient in there and wait for the shots to land. But you asked for KOs, and I give you KOs so let’s go. I’m 31-0, (2008) Olympian and world champion, so what more do I need to do (to get a major fight)?”
There were three other world title bouts on the card:
WBC flyweight titlist Julio Cesar Martinez (18-1, 14 KOs), 26, of Mexico, retained his title for the fourth time via wild second-round no contest against interim titlist McWilliams Arroyo (21-4, 16 KOs), 35, of Puerto, in fight that had been postponed multiple times.
They exchanged knockdowns in the first round with Arroyo sending Martinez into the ropes, which held him up, with a left. Then he hit the deck in the final seconds of the round when Martinez dropped him with a left. Martinez dropped Arroyo again in the second round with a right hand before an accidental head butt left Arroyo with a nasty cut over his right eye and unable to come out for the third round.
Murodjon Akhmadaliev (10-0, 7 KOs), 26, a southpaw from Uzbekistan, retained his unified WBA/IBF titles with a lopsided unanimous decision, 119-109 on all three scorecards, against Jose Velasquez (29-7-2 19 KOs), 32, of Chile, who replaced mandatory challenger Ronny Rios (33-3, 16 KOs) on a week’s notice when Rios was ruled out after contracting Covid-19. Velasquez, whose 21-fight winning streak ended, was game but outclassed by Akhmadaliev, who made his second defense.
Kali Reis (19-7-1, 5 KOs), 35, of Providence, Rhode Island, defended her WBA women’s junior welterweight title for the second time and claimed the vacant WBO belt in a split decision win against Jessica Camara (8-3, 0 KOs), 33, of Montreal. Two judges had it 97-93 for Reis and one had it 95-94 for Camara. Reis will move on to face unified titlist Chantelle Cameron for undisputed title in the final of the four-woman tournament to unify all the belts. England’s Cameron (15-0, 8 KOs), 30, was in the ring to pose with Reis afterward to begin the countdown to their fight.
iFL TV appearance
I joined my friends at iFL TV from inside the Crawford-Porter media center to discuss the fight as well as Canelo’s plan to fight for a cruiserweight title, the latest on a possible Tyson Fury-Dillian Whyte fight and thoughts on the overloaded schedule of upcoming pay-per-views. Check out the video here:
Boxing Social appearance
I also joined my friends at Boxing Social from the press center to discuss the big Crawford-Porter fight, Canelo’s audacious cruiserweight gamble, Dillian Whyte's WBC beef and Joe Smith change of opponent to Callum Johnson. Please watch the video here:
Haney-Diaz undercard
Jessica McCaskill, the undisputed women’s welterweight champion, will defend against former lightweight titlist Victoria Bustos in the co-feature of the fight between WBC lightweight titlist Devin Haney and interim titlist Joseph Diaz Jr. on Dec. 4 (DAZN) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Matchroom Boxing announced.
Along with the bout announcement came news that McCaskill (10-2, 3 KOs), 37, of Chicago, has also signed a long-term promotional deal with Matchroom.
McCaskill will be making her second defense when he faces Bustos (22-6, 0 KOs), 32, of Argentina, since taking all the belts from Cecilia Braekhus in August 2020 and then outpointing her again in her first defense in a March rematch.
Matchroom also unveiled the rest of the Dec. 5 undercard:
Heavyweight Filip Hrgovic (13-0, 11 KOs), 29, a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist from Croatia, will defend his regional belt against Scott Alexander (16-4-2, 8 KOs), 32, of Los Angeles. “Filip is knocking loudly on the door of his fellow world class operators in the heavyweight division, and next year we expect him to break that door down and be involved in — and win — some massive fights,” Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said.
Junior welterweight Montana Love (16-0-1, 8 KOs), 26, a southpaw from Cleveland, will have his first fight since recently signing with Matchroom against Carlos Diaz (29-1, 14 KOs), 26, of Mexico.
Three top Matchroom prospects will also be in action:
Middleweight Austin Williams (8-0, 6 KOs), 25, of Houston, faces Quatavious Cash (14-2, 8 KOs), 29, of Atlanta, in an eight-rounder.
Super middleweight Alexis Espino (9-0, 6 KOs), 21, of Las Vegas, moves up to the eight-round distance against Rodolfo Gomez Jr. (14-5-1, 10 KOs), 32, of Laredo, Texas, in an eight-rounder.
Junior lightweight Marc Castro (4-0 4 KOs), 22, of Fresno, California, will face a foe to be determined in a six-rounder.
Quick hits
WBO flyweight titlist Junto Nakatani (22-0, 17 KOs), 23, of Japan, will make his second defense against Cristian Gonzalez (14-1, 4 KOs), 22, of Mexico, Dec. 29 (DAZN) on the undercard of the middleweight title unification fight between Gennadiy Golovkin and Ryota Murata at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, Teiken Promotions announced Friday. Also on the card will be an all-Japanese 12-round lightweight bout between Shuichiro Yoshino (14-0, 11 KOs) and former junior lightweight titlist Masayuki Ito (27-3-1, 15 KOs).
Triller Fight Club announced a “Night of Heavyweights” card for Dec. 2 (FITE) at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York that will be headlined by a 10-rounder between Cassius Chaney (21-0, 14 KOs), 34, of New London, Connecticut, against George Arias (16-0, 7 KOs), 29, of Bronx, New York. In the co-feature, Trey Lippe-Morrison (18-0, 17 KOs), 32, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who is the son of late heavyweight star Tommy Morrison, faces former NFL linebacker Mike Balogun (17-0, 13 KOs), 38, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, in a 10-rounder. Also on the card, WBC women’s heavyweight titlist Hannah Gabriels (21-2-1, 12 KOs), 38, of Costa Rica, makes her first defense versus Danielle Perkins (3-0, 1 KO), 39, of Houston; Russian Andrey Fedesov (32-3-0, 26 KOs), 35, meets Junior Wright (18-3-1, 15 KOs), 35, of Detroit, in a 10-rounder; and Jerry Forrest (26-4-1, 20 KOs), 33, of Brooklyn, New York, fights Joe Jones (12-4, 9 KOs), 26, of Jersey City, New Jersey, in an eight-rounder.
The WBA has ordered a lightweight title eliminator between Michel Rivera (22-0, 14 KOs), 23, of the Dominican Republic, and former titlist Jorge Linares (47-6, 29 KOs), 36, of Venezuela, and given them until Dec. 17 to make a deal. If they don’t make a deal by the deadline the WBA will order a purse bid. The split would be 50-50. Rivera is coming off a shutout 10-round decision over Matias Romero on Oct. 30 and Linares is coming off a decision loss challenging WBC titlist Devin Haney in May.
Former four-division titlist Donnie Nietes (43-1-5, 23 KOs), 39, of the Philippines, will face two-time world title challenger Norbelto Jimenez (30-9-5 16 KOs), 30, of the Dominican Republic, in a WBA junior bantamweight title eliminator on the Probellum card Dec. 11 at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, where Sunny Edwards will make his first IBF flyweight title defense against mandatory challenger Jayson Mama in the main event.
Show and tell
I wrote most of the program for Crawford-Porter — which is quite limited — as well as the backs of the cards of both fighters that are inserted inside it. So, of course, I picked up my allotment of programs this week in Vegas. Here’s what it looks like.
Crawford-Porter photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Andrade-Quigley photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing
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Do you have a prediction for tonight? (I do, it ain’t gonna be a walk in the park for either guy!)