With both of Crawford’s biggest targets off the board — Spence recovering from surgery, Pacquiao now retired — Porter stepped up. And even though Porter represents a more significant opportunity than he’s faced to this point, Crawford remains insistent that he wants the biggest challenges out there.
Terence Crawford vs. Shawn Porter — Round 8: Porter landed a jab but Crawford landed a heavy left hand and they exchanged fire again. Crawford landed some heavy shots in that exchange, really clean connects there.
Elsewhere on the card, Isaac Cruz picked up a tough win over Giovanni Cabrera in the co-main event as he continues to campaign to get a rematch with Gervonta “Tank” Davis. Cruz landed some massive shots on Cabrera, but he just couldn’t get him to drop over the course of 12 rounds. The win also secured Cruz a future shot at the WBC lightweight title. Plus, Alexandro Santiago outpointed and dominated former titleholder Nonito Donaire to claim the vacant WBC bantamweight crown. Donaire, 40, looked his age for the first time and will go home to consider his future in the sport after the loss.
From a misspent youth to NBA multimillionaire, the journey includes elements of mischief, misfortune and maturity at every stop. And lessons learned every time he opened the trunk and reached for that leather ball.
Round 5: Madrimov comes out aggressive, firing right hands. Madrimov pushes the pace and goes to the body. Crawford flurries in response. Madrimov goes over the top with his left only to get smacked with a one-two by Crawford. Things are starting to heat up. Crawford pops off a few jabs to measure distance. Oh, Crawford goes down but that appeared to be a trip. Yep, Madrimov hit him with a glancing blow but that when was terence crawford’s last fight definitely a trip. We’re back. Madrimov loads up for an overhand right then sneaks an uppercut into Crawford’s chin. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Madrimov. (48-47 Crawford.)
Jermell Charlo, the WBA “champion in recess,” had stated he was activating his right to fight Madrimov for the title, but ultimately backed down. It’s possible that a Crawford vs. Charlo fight could do good business as the two have traded words in the past.
Round 8: Cruz bullies his way inside past a series of long jabs and crosses by Valenzuela. Cruz wings a right hand but Valenzuela rolls with it. Nasty uppercut to the body by Valenzuela, and that one seemingly lifted Cruz off his feet. Slick combination by Valenzuela. He’s bullying the bully right now. Valenzuela walks him down and flurries. Cruz throws everything into a looping overhand right but again Valenzuela just rolls with it. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Valenzuela. (77-75 Valenzuela.)
Round 7: A very tough round to score, which is par for this fight. But what sealed that round for Porter might have been a right hook that seemed to catch Crawford pretty well in his corner. Crawford shrugged it off, which suggests that he felt it a little bit. 10-9 Porter, 67-66 Porter.
Volny (16-1, 10 KOs) started to find his footing in his United States debut. The Canadian had a good flurry in the fifth round as a crowd that had little to cheer for started to perk up. But once the clash occurred and the cut opened, Falcao was ruled unable to continue and the fight went to the scorecards.
Veterano della lega, è considerato tra i migliori di sempre nel ball-handling. Giocatore eccezionale come sesto uomo, ha segnato più di 10.000 punti partendo dalla panchina e, insieme a Lou Williams, detiene il record di più NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award vinti, 3. Risulta attualmente l’11° miglior tiratore da tre punti nella storia della NBA e detiene il record per il maggior numero di giocate da 4 punti. Nel 2018 ha vinto l’NBA Teammate of the Year Award.
He certainly stakes a claim as the world’s best fighter currently. But after 40 fights and 40 wins, 18 consecutive world title fights and the first male boxer to win undisputed titles in two weight classes, Crawford has a strong case for being the best fighter of his generation.
In December, Crawford defeated Russian boxer Avanesyan via knockout. In March 2023, Spence and Crawford revealed that they had a roughly 30-minute phone call in February with getting the deal over the line after Spence appeared headed for a fight with American boxer Keith Thurman at 154 pounds.
10:51 p.m. ET: Entering the 11th round, Cabrera’s chin is still holding up. He’s avoided some of the bigger shots from Cruz, who is still looking for the home run. It’s not a pretty fight by any means but Cruz is comfortably ahead despite being docked a point earlier in the bout.
Round 3: Some early frustration already starting to be heard from Kalajdzic’s corner. They want him to be more cautious with his entries. Kalajdzic snaps out a few jabs. Morrell walks him into the ropes only to eat another short jab to the jaw. Morrell again pressures Kalajdzic into the corner but he can’t get anything going. Kalajdzic is definitely trying to be busier here, and so far it’s working. Morrell unloads with a big flurry off a clinch. Oh, that caught Kalajdzic’s attention. Morrell is hunting him down now. Big left hand by Morrell! Morrell is swarming. Hell of a close to that round for the Cuban. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Morrell. (30-27 Morrell.)
