Terence “Bud” Crawford to the ring. The WBO welterweight champion is back in Las Vegas for arguably his biggest test to date in the 147-pound division when he faces former champion Shawn Porter in the main event of an ESPN+ PPV from the Mandalay Bay.
Crawford is a perfect 37-0 in his pro career with 28 major wins by knockout. After holding titles at both lightweight and becoming undisputed junior welterweight champion, he captured the WBO welterweight title with a TKO of Jeff Horn in June 2018. He has made four defenses of the title, all by TKO, though criticism of his level of opposition has remained.
Porter, 34, has just three losses on his resume against elite competition at the time of their meeting. He earned the IBF welterweight crown in 2013 with a win over Devon Alexander before dropping it to Kell Brook in 2014. He then failed in his bid for the WBA crown in a thriller against Keith Thurman in 2016. He bounced back to secure the WBC crown in 2018 with a win over Danny Garcia before dropping that title in his unification with Errol Spence Jr. in 2019 that was razor thin.
The undercard fills out with a pair of middleweight bouts and a lightweight showdown to open the festivities. Esquiva Falcao meets Patrice Volny in the co-feature bout at 160 pounds while Janibek Alimkhanuly takes on Hassan N’Dam in the other middleweight showdown. Raymond Muratalla and Steven Ortiz get things going on PPV at 135 pounds.