Crawford and Porter trade anything but barbs in a business-like press conference
LAS VEGAS – Terence Crawford and Shawn Porter don’t hide the fact that they are friends. They have been for years and had spoken on more than one occasion about the possibility of fighting each other even though the match was never on top of either’s wish list.
But that doesn’t mean they are not extremely driven to beat up the other man when they square off for Crawford’s WBO welterweight world title in a mandatory bout on Saturday (ESPN+ PPV, 9 p.m. ET, $69.99) at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay.
Despite the impending violence they intend to inflict upon each other, however, they have remained extremely respectful and cordial to one another throughout the promotion, almost to the point of making it boring.
Their pre-fight news conference, a made-for-ESPN broadcast on Wednesday afternoon inside a large ballroom at Mandalay Bay, had less heat than a church service. Of course, any fan would prefer fireworks in the ring as opposed to on a stage with microphones three days earlier.
Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), 34, a three-division world champion from Omaha, Nebraska, and former two-time WBC welterweight titlist Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs), 34, of Las Vegas, did not raise their voices, curse or insult each other. And they sure as heck never came close to anything resembling pushing, shoving or trading blows. There was no face off either to stoke that possibility.
They were all business.
“I respect everything that Shawn does,” Crawford told moderator Joe Tessitore of ESPN. “Shawn is athletic, he can box, he can bang, he can move around in the ring, he can cut corners and take angles. I’m not going to sit here and say that I don’t respect anything that he does.
“I’m just going to say that I do a lot of things better than Shawn. I’m going to show him come Saturday.”
Crawford is never the most talkative guy in the room, but he was even less so on stage facing Porter. He said it is because he is already in fight mode.
“Once we signed that contract, the switch was already flipped and I can’t wait to go out there Saturday to display my talent and look good doing it,” he said. “Until then, right now I’m just chilling, playing ‘Call of Duty’ in the room by myself all day. I’ve been in the room all day isolating.”
Porter was more boisterous and energetic, but also kept things extremely respectful.
“I don’t think there’s too much that I can say to ‘Bud’ that’s going to change the way he thinks about himself and the outcome of this fight,” Porter said. “He can’t look at me and say, ‘I’m going to beat your ass’ and I’m going to believe that, and he knows that, and he won’t dare to do it. I could say the exact same thing he said, and I believe it.”
Porter said that even if Crawford tried to go at him verbally, it would have no impact on him.
“There are people you can get to, and there are people that you can’t get to. I’m one of those people that you can’t get to, and I got a feeling that you can get to him quicker on the microphone than you can in the ring,” Porter said. “In the ring, he is solid, but there may be something that is posted (on social media) or said that might have an effect on him.
“I’m relaxing, I’m drinking water and just biding my time. I am a ‘showtime’ fighter, and I can’t wait for showtime on ESPN+ pay-per-view. I’m a really even-keeled type of guy. I like things to be easy, and fight week is always easy for me.”
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