Shawn Porter retires after TKO loss to Terence Crawford

Shawn Porter is calling it a career.

After a difficult 10th round TKO loss to Terence Crawford, former welterweight champion Shawn Porter is hanging up the gloves.

Porter told media at the post-fight press conference that he is hanging up the gloves after 36 pro fights spread out over 13 years. He indicated that this was going to be his decision regardless of the outcome.

Despite a spirited effort through 10 rounds, Porter was narrowly trailing on all three scorecards when Terence Crawford dropped him twice. Shawn’s dad and coach Kenny Porter made the somewhat controversial decision to pull his son from the bout, sparing Shawn from the high likelihood of additional punishment at the hands of one of the most devastating finishers in boxing.

Porter (31-4-1, 17 KOs) first became a world champion when he defeated Devon Alexander for the IBF welterweight title in 2013. After a demolition job on Paulie Malignaggi, Porter lost his title by majority decision to Kell Brook in 2014. His next shot at a title ended in a close decision defeat to then WBA champion Keith Thurman in 2016, but ‘Showtime’ would go on to win the vacant WBC belt against Danny Garcia in 2018. After narrowly defeating Yordenis Ugas, Porter unified titles with Errol Spence Jr but lost a split decision in September 2019. His final win came against Sebastian Formella in August 2020.

There’s no doubt that Porter frequently fought the best of the best throughout his career at the top-level, and he’s widely regarded as one of the nice guys and well-respected men in boxing.

It’s very common for combat sports athletes to walk back their retirement statements but Porter has an active commentary job with PBC on FOX and has also done some work for NBC, including at this year’s Tokyo Olympics. Perhaps he’ll transition to full-time commentary much like ESPN broadcasters Timothy Bradley and Andre Ward did and never look back.