Terence Crawford Thinks If He Does ‘Too Good’ Vs. Shawn Porter, Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman Might Not Want Fight

Terence Crawford is scheduled to meet Shawn Porter next Saturday, but the current WBO world welterweight champion made it clear this isn’t what he wanted.

Crawford said he was really seeking a fight against either IBF and WBC welterweight titleholder Errol Spence Jr. or former WBA and WBC titlist Keith Thurman. Now, he’s afraid no matter how November 20 goes, it’ll be a lose-lose situation for him.

“I’m looking at them trying to use Shawn as a pawn because he’ll fight anybody,” Crawford said. “If I do too good, they [Thurman and Spence] might back up even more.”

“[But] We’re here now, and I’m going to show them why they’ve been ducking me,” he added.

Crawford will defend his title against Porter on Nov. 20, but he told @TimBradleyJr that he really wanted to fight Spence or Thurman 😳 #CrawfordPorter

(via @TopRank) pic.twitter.com/DDdWrS6hl4

— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) November 9, 2021

Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) already lost to Spence in 2019 and Thurman in 2016. He also holds a controversial win over Yordenis Ugas from September 2019.

Because of this, Crawford said the only way he’ll gain traction with a victory over Porter is if it’s by an emphatic knockout. But even then, he thinks fans may discredit him because Porter has not fought in a year and has lost to the two boxers he has been calling out to face.

Still, Porter, 34, is a former two-time welterweight world champion. He held the IBF title from 2013 to 2014 and the WBC title from 2018 to 2019.