Update 11:35 p.m. Terence Crawford came out to LL Cool J’s “I’m Bad” and when Jimmy Lennon Jr. is done, we are ready for what should be a terrific fight.
Update 11:25 p.m. We have ring walks for the main event at Mandalay Bay, and Shawn Porter is on the way to the ring with a faith-based parade and WWE’s Big E! Here we go.
It’s fight night once again in Las Vegas and we get a big welterweight title bout at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. WBO champion Terence Crawford puts his title on the line against Shawn Porter. The main event is expected to get underway in the 11 p.m. ET hour on an ESPN+ PPV and we’re here to offer round-by-round scoring and updates until we have a winner.
Here are the winners during the undercard so far:
- Esquiva Falcao technical split decision over Patrice Volny (56-58, 58-57, 58-56)
- Zhanibek Alimkhanuly TKO Hassan N’Dam N’jikam at 2:40 in 8th round, lightweight
- Isaac Dogboe majority decision over Christopher Diaz (95-95, 96-94, 97-93), featherweight
- Raymond Muratalla TKO over Elias Damian Araujo at 2:20 in 5th round, lightweight
- Adam Lopez vs. Adan Ochoa, no contest (clash of heads) after two rounds, featherweight
- Karlos Balderas TKO over Julio Cortez at 2:13 in 4th round, lightweight
- Delante “Tiger” Johnson TKO over Antonius Grable at 1:54 in 4th round, welterweight
Crawford comes into the fight as a sizable favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, installed at -700. Porter is a +500 underdog. Total rounds is installed at 10.5 with over priced at -260. The winning method odds are priced as follows:
Crawford by decision or technical decision: -125
Crawford by KO, TKO, DQ: +155
Porter by decision or technical decision: +800
Porter by KO, TKO, DQ: +1100
Draw: +2500
The referee for the fight is Celestino Ruiz. The judges are California’s Max De Luca, Nevada’s Dave Moretti, and New Jersey’s Steve Weisfeld.
Barring a rematch, the winner of this bout stands a good chance of facing either WBA champ Yordenis Ugas or IBF and WBC champ Errol Spence, Jr. The division has never been unified, but Crawford-Porter could go a ways toward moving us in that direction.
And here we go!
Round 1 10-9 Porter
Porter came out very aggressive, and wasn’t afraid to get in close against the man with the bigger reach. A good round for the challenger.
Round 2 10-9 Crawford
A very fun round with some quality exchanges. Crawford went southpaw and was able to land some lefts as well behind the jab. The range advantage is helping here.
Round 3 10-9 Crawford
This could easily be a drawn round, and now there’s a cut over the right eye of Porter as Crawford came inside with a head clash. We’ll see how long it effects the bout.
Round 4 10-9 Crawford
Another good round with plenty of action, and at least for now the cut over Porter’s eye seems under control. Crawford is just lightly getting the better of these exchanges, and switching to southpaw is a big reason. It’s been fun and close so far.
Round 5 10-9 Porter
Just some more aggression in this round from Porter, and no true clean power shots from Crawford to counter. When Porter wins, it’s with energy and punches thrown. He did that here.
Round 6 10-9 Porter
Another clash of heads, but this time it’s Crawford that gets dinged. Couldn’t see much blood, but referee Celestino Ruiz stopped the round and acknowledged it. As far as the fighting, it looked like Porter got the best of the exchanges mostly at close range. But these rounds are truly close.
Round 7 10-9 Porter
Another good round for Porter, who landed a clean right that stunned Crawford temporarily but didn’t follow up. But there are more punches and energy coming from the challenger right now, and if he can hang on he can do this.
Round 8 10-9 Crawford
By far the biggest shots of the fight, and Crawford is now landing to the body effectively. It was really close, and Porter got the best of some exchanges mid-round with a couple big rights, but the body shots from Crawford were enough here. Terrific technical fight.
Round 9 10-9 Crawford
Another quality round, but Crawford seems to be doing more with his lefts to the body that are doing far more damage than the rights to the head from Porter. Less action than most rounds, but Crawford did more here.
Round 10 Terence Crawford wins by TKO at 1:21 of the round
Crawford got a knockdown just a few seconds into the round, and another right in the center of the ring via a huge left as the activity Porter had early started to wane.
Porter’s father Kenny stopped the fight from his corner, and while it might have been a smidge early as Shawn wanted to continue, it would be hard to see how he’d come back from this.