Shawn Porter dad wants Pacquiao or Crawford for son’s next fight
FILE – Boxing trainer Kenny Porter (L) and boxer Shawn Porter arrive at the VIP Pre-Fight Party for ‘High Stakes: Mayweather v. Berto’ presented by Showtime at MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 12, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Showtime/AFP
MANILA, Philippines—Shawn Porter was on the shorter end of a close split decision match against Errol Spence back in 2019, and his father Kenny wants nothing more but an absolute barn burner for his son’s next match.
During a live Instagram interview, h/t BoxingScene.com, the older Porter said that he wants his son to face either Manny Pacquiao or Terence Crawford next.
“If you could give me the fight that we would want that would make a great show that night, Manny Pacquiao,” Kenny Porter said. “But, you know, let’s not stop at Manny. Obviously, you know, since we talking about boxers, you know, Terence Crawford. That would be an amazing fight.”
“I’ve done seen my son play cards and Monopoly and all that stuff, and he’s slamming stuff down. He’s a competitive dude. You know, you give him a mountain to climb, you know, he’s gonna do it.”
Shawn (30-3) was the WBC World welterweight champion more than a year before he lost the strap to Spence in September of 2019 in a unification bout with the IBF championship.
The 32-year-old boxer was then reported to have a planned meeting with Crawford in Las Vegas just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Nevertheless, his father Shawn still sees a fight between his son and the WBO champion but a fight against the 41-year-old Pacquiao would be a more lucrative option.
Pacquiao’s defeat of Keith Thurman for the WBA Super World welterweight title drew an estimated 500,000 pay-per-view buys in the United States alone.
“Manny Pacquiao, Terence Crawford, you know, 1, 1A,” said Porter. “You know, take your pick. Amazing fighters. You know, Terence Crawford is one of my favorites, if not the favorite fighter for me out there today. Amazing fighter. You know, Shawn Porter obviously is my favorite fighter. But, you know, Bud, dude is everything. He’s all that, you know.”
Porter, however, has to work a little harder in convincing Pacquiao or Crawford’s camps to a deal.
Crawford (36-0) hasn’t mentioned Porter as a potential opponent since he defeated mandatory challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas via ninth round technical knockout his last fight on Dec. 14, 2019 at Madison Square Garden.
Interestingly, Shawn was a former sparring partner of Pacquiao’s (62-7-2) when the Filipino icon was preparing for his bout against Miguel Cotto for the WBC 147-lb title in 2009—the same championship Shawn would eventually win nine years later.
Pacquiao, as per BoxingScene.com, has his sights on a unification bout with Spence with the winner ultimately taking the WBA, IBF, and WBC crowns.
If those two bouts don’t pan out, Porter said his son could always get a sequel fight with Spence.
“Of course, we’d love, me, gotta have the Errol Spence part 2,” said Porter.
