Terence Crawford defends world title and looks to Spence Jr showdown after 10th-round Shawn Porter stoppage

Terence Crawford successfully defended his WBO welterweight title and maintained his unbeaten career record with a tenth-round stoppage over Shawn Porter in Las Vegas.

Sunday’s fight once again sets the 38-0 champ en route for a historic showdown with Errol Spence Jr, should his rival overcome an eye injury and Crawford’s move away from promoters Top Rank help push forward negotiations.

As for Porter, who held the WBC title before losing to Spence Jr in 2019, the 34-year-old announced his retirement after hitting the canvas twice in the tenth-round.

Crawford knocked down Porter early in the round with a left uppercut and then delivered an exclamation point with a devastating right hook to the temple, followed by a left hook to the face.

Porter's trainer and father, Kenny, threw in the towel and called for referee Celestino Ruiz to stop the fight. Porter then stunned reporters by announcing his retirement from boxing at his post-fight press conference.

"I know I caught him with a good uppercut and then when I caught him with another left hook clean in his face that he was real hurt and his dad did the right thing by stopping it because I was coming with a vengeance," Crawford said.

"I didn't really want to fight him. We always said we would fight each other when the time was right and I guess the time was right for this fight to happen.”

Spence Jr was in attendance at Mandalay Bay, much to Crawford’s surprise as the 34-year-old referenced his rival’s split decision win over Porter two years ago.

“He was at my fight?” asked the American. “That boy said he was gonna never be at my fights, and now he’s at my fights. You see what I did compared to what he did.

“Who’s number one in the welterweight division now? I’ve been calling him out all day. Maybe I’ll go up to 154[lbs]. Maybe if Spence gets his tail out of his butt, he’ll fight me.”

He added: “[Top Rank’s Bob Arum] couldn’t secure me the Spence fight when I was with him, so how is he going to secure me the Spence fight when I’m not with him? I’m moving forward with my career now.”

Crawford was ahead on all three of the judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld had Crawford leading 86-85, while Max De Luca had him ahead 87-84.

Porter (31-4-1), who has risen to become a legitimate top-five welterweight, and was easily the best opponent of Crawford's career, displayed relentless aggression in the early rounds.

Crawford's switch-hitting flex didn't necessarily work when he turned to southpaw early in the fight, as Porter adjusted accordingly and connected often.

"Shawn Porter is a slick fighter. He was doing some things in there and made me think," Crawford said. "I can't say nothing bad about him."

After playing defensively and smiling more than punching, Crawford finally showed signs of offense in the sixth round and came alive in the ninth and tenth rounds — the final two rounds, as it turned out, of Porter's career.

"I'm prepared to retire," Porter said. "I was prepared to announce my retirement tonight — win, lose or draw. Even if it was a draw, we had a date. They were telling us we were going to have to do it again. I was not going to do it again. I am announcing my retirement right now."

Additional reporting by AP.

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