One day before a scheduled purse bid between WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and mandatory challenger Shawn Porter, the sanctioning body has pushed the deadline back to September 14th at Top Rank’s and TGB’s request.
The purse bid for the mandatory bout between WBO Welterweight Champion Terence Crawford and challenger Shawn Porter has been moved to September 14th, following a request from the promoters of both fighters, Top Rank (Crawford) and Tom Brown’s TGB Promotions (Porter).
— WBO (@WorldBoxingOrg) September 1, 2021
Despite previous reports that negotiations weren’t going well, it looks like the powers that be still believe they can come to terms. Crawford’s (37-0, 28 KO) Top Rank contract expires next month, so it will be interesting to see what sorts of concessions Bob Arum, who hasn’t minced words about his struggles promoting “Bud,” will offer to make this fight happen. Arum had previously stated a desire to stage the event in November.
Neither Crawford nor Porter (31-3-1, 17 KO) has fought since 2020. Crawford smashed Kell Brook in November, while “Showtime” ran roughshod over Sebastian Formella in August. This is still a great matchup that both men deserve to be appropriately compensated for, so let’s hope that’s the outcome.