Terence Crawford and Shawn Porter: On their way to stardom
Terence Crawford has been forced to get over the huge disappointment of not being able to fight Manny Pacquiao, and must now turn his attention to Shawn Porter, with the pair due to meet on Saturday night.
The duo have endured different roads to stardom, but their battle is likely to be the culmination of a career which has seen both rise to the summit of the Welterweight division.
It will be Crawford's fifth defence of his title, although the first time he will be deemed to be going up against someone of comparable quality.
Undefeated Crawford has not yet fought an individual from the so-called boxing elite, but Porter is seen as the best in the division alongside him.
Porter made his professional debut in 2008, defeating Norman Johnson by TKO, although he was left disappointed by not being selected to be part of the US Beijing Olympic team.
Fans like Porter because he has taken some huge fights, taking on Kell Brook, Keith Thurman and Errol Spence Jr.
Admittedly, he lost to all three of those aforementioned opponents, but the respect from fans of taking those fights on is significant.
Pound-for-pound candidate
Crawford might be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world alongside Canelo Alvarez, but his record can't prove that.
It's easy to judge power and technique, but the true intangibles of boxing come when you're in the ring with someone of an equal or superior skill level.
That is when your heart gets tested, your ring IQ gets tested and your overall quality is tested. Crawford hasn't had as many of these tests as Porter, which is what makes Saturday's fight perhaps even more interesting that the possible Crawford-Pacquiao showdown we missed out on.
A comfortable victory and Crawford's title reign has immediate legitimacy, he is seen as one of the true superstars, lose to Porter and all of a sudden he is facing a mountainous climb back to the top of the division, with many writing him off as a flat-track bully.
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