Crawford will look to keep it long and catch Porter as he comes in and moves out. He'll tie up Porter when he does get in close, frustrating Porter attempts to rough him up. No doubt the early rounds Crawford will just take a look at Porter, maybe lose a few rounds but once he's figured him out and got his timing down I expect Crawford to take over. Crawford wins a UD but if he stops him it will send a clear message to everyone who really is the best at welter.
Crawford via clear UD or a potential late stoppage (emphasis on potential). Crawford has all the tools to beat Porter - speed, power, skill, counter-punching ability, ring generalship, defense... Porter will give him trouble early with his high energy, fast-paced, eccentric, rough-housing style, but Crawford will find openings when Porter lunges in and will capitalize on Porter's mistakes - making him pay for his recklessness.
Mean machine is better than Porter and the lighter Gamboa was faster. Brook beat Porter but Shawn has improved since then.
No, Bud always looks to counter the jab, it will be like the Khan fight with Porter being countered everytime he steps with the jab.
Porter has the crazy style to make this difficult and **** Bud off around the 6th. It’s difficult to time Porter unless he gets back to that jab, jab and jump inside routine. That will work a few times but if Bud finds that pattern and times him then it’s game over
One thing I’ve learned throughout the years: triangulation often fails in boxing. Examples that immediately come to mind are: Hearns/Barkley/Duran; Tyson/Douglas/Ferguson and/or Tucker; Mosley/Forrest/Mayorga; Curry/Honeyghan/Starling. If Porter can manage to avoid serious damage from shots he doesn’t see, I think he can give Bud problems. We still don’t know how Bud will do in a sustained dogfight. Styles make fights and history is full of examples, I listed two above, where a rough and tumble fighter proves all wrong for a talented technician. No matter what happens, I give props to Porter for seeking this fight. At the same time, if Bud wins this fight I still want to see him in against Spence, Thurman, and Swift Garcia.
Agreed I think a better recent example is Floyd/Cotto/Pacquaio/Mosley quartet of fights. I’m simply stating that at the elite level at WW, Shawn Porter is the ultimate measuring stick as he fought near even fights with every elite fighter outside of Pacquiao. So it’s a pivotal matchup in seeing exactly how to rate Crawford at WW.
Bud would have beaten Honeyghan, Starling, Forrest and Mayorga, he would have countered their jabs better than Curry or Mosley did in those respective fights.
True he looks to counter the jab a lot but what you are saying doesn't go against what I said. You can counter the jab and keep it long and you can counter the jab and step in. If you're suggesting Crawford will fight inside with Porter, I don't agree. He'll keep things at his range vs the shorter porter. Now that doesn't mean he'll run, he'll probably press too but by staying just out of range to try and draw a lead from Porter so Crawford can counter.
