After Terence Crawford plowed through Egidijus Kavaliauskas in December to defend his WBO welterweight title, talks immediately shifted to who "Bud" would face next to kick off his 2020 campaign.
With unified champion Errol Spence Jr. on the mend following a horrific car crash in October and WBA titlist Manny Pacquiao looking to go in a different direction — perhaps against Danny Garcia — Crawford's promoter, Bob Arum, brought up former WBC titleholder, Shawn Porter.
Crawford said in that post-fight conference that he hadn't talked with Porter about the idea. But Porter kept relatively mum about the potential showdown at the time. That being said, "Showtime" recently told DAZN News that he plans on reaching out to Crawford to see if he'll be in Las Vegas for the Feb. 22nd heavyweight title rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury to discuss the possibility.
"You know, we’ll see," Porter, who will serve as an on-air analyst during the Wilder-Fury 2 broadcast, told DAZN News. "I told myself this week that I would reach out to him and see if he’s going to be out there for the big fight next week. If he’s out there, we’ll get together, we’ll talk and I’m sure after that conversation, we’ll figure out what we want to tell the media and what we’re going to do."
If the conversation does occur, the decision won't come down to Arum or Porter's representative at Premier Boxing Champions, Al Haymon. It will be Porter and Crawford making the call, according to the former champ.
"That right there is actually a collective decision that isn’t him calling me out and me denying the fight or me calling him out and him denying the fight," Porter said. "This is a mutual decision between friends, and whether or not we want to put our friendship to the side and get it on and become friends (again) after the fight. So we’ll see."
Crawford vented his frustration to Sporting News in December about not being able to secure the marquee fights at welterweight and feeling like certain guys are avoiding him from PBC due to him competing for the promoter "across the street" and that he's on the shortlist of boxers who could claim to be the pound-for-pound best in the world.
Typically, fighters don't feel bad for other fighters in situations like this. But that's not the case here, as Porter feels for his friend because he knows what type of fighter and person that Crawford truly is.
"Actually I’ll say from an active fighter's standpoint — (because) I think Timothy Bradley is the most disappointed — that I’m the most disappointed that he does not get the credit he deserves," Porter said of Crawford. "I’m the most disappointed that he doesn’t get some of the big fights he should get. I’m not going to say deserves because obviously, you chose what side of the line you want to be on. It really is disappointing to see and hear that people aren’t willing to recognize who he is not just as a fighter, but as an athlete.
"I promise you — he’s one of the most athletic boxers in the game right now," Porter continued. "And I promise you — he’s one of the most athletic boxers of all time. There’s just a few of us out there that can get into any sport right now and not just play that sport, but compete. He’s one of those guys out there that can just do it. We’ve played basketball, we’ve been bowling together and we’ve done a whole lot together. I know that he’s one of the best fighters out there. So, to not see him get the recognition he deserves, it really is disappointing."