Shawn Porter is often credited with being one of the best welterweights of his entire generation.
Known as ‘Showtime’, Porter became a holder of the world welterweight championship on two occasions during his professional career.
He captured the IBF welterweight title with a victory over Devon Alexander in December 2013 and made just one successful defence of his crown before he was dethroned by Britain’s Kell Brook just eight months later.
His second world title reign began in September 2018 when he produced arguably the best win of his career, defeating Danny Garcia via unanimous decision to claim the WBC welterweight title at the Barclays Center in New York City.
In a feature with The Ring Magazine, Porter was asked to name the smartest opponent of his career, naming none other than former pound-for-pound superstar Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford.
“Smartest fighter I’ve ever been in the ring with. His reputation was that he downloads information, it takes some rounds to learn you and then does what he needs to get you out of there. I didn’t see that.
“I didn’t see him downloading information and I think another thing, I was so good at a lot of things, I think I kept him trying to figure me out and then he changed something, and it was the most simple thing, he said, ‘I’m going to go get him.’ And as he comes to get me, we see what happened.
“Let me tell you why he’s the smartest fighter I’ve been in the ring with. He thinks at a high level, I felt like I was outthinking him and all of a sudden, he knows what I’m going to do. Early in the fight, I think I was boxing a little better, a little more energy and things of that nature but I’ve never been in the ring with a fighter I couldn’t manipulate amateur or pro, except Terence Crawford.”
Crawford defeated Porter in what would prove to be the final bout of the latter’s career in November 2021, stopping his countryman in the 10th round of their WBO welterweight title match-up in Las Vegas.
‘Bud’ announced his own retirement from the sport last December, just a few months on from his monumental victory over Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez where he became the undisputed super-middleweight champion at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
