Terence Crawford has named one fighter he would have never wished to lock horns with, purely because of their robust friendship outside the ropes.
The former five-division world champion fought a selection of elite competitors, including Canelo Alvarez and Errol Spence Jr, but would rarely consider any such opponents as ‘friends’.
Shawn Porter, it seemed, was the only friend he ended up facing in the ring, with their 2021 welterweight encounter resulting in a 10th-round stoppage victory for ‘Bud’.
But while Crawford and Porter shared a perfectly amicable relationship, it was hardly the same dynamic that is becoming increasingly apparent between Shakur Stevenson and Keyshawn Davis.
Despite operating in similar weight divisions, the two technicians have made it perfectly clear that, regardless of any media pressure, they are unlikely to ever square off in the ring.
Instead, they would much rather take out the competition in equal measure, with Davis looking to become a two-weight world champion at 140lbs or 147lbs and Stevenson potentially eying a move back down to 135lbs.
In a similar sense, Crawford has insisted that he would have never fought Timothy Bradley, telling Ring Champs with Ak & Barak that their relationship is comparable to that of Stevenson and Davis.
“Keyshawn beats everybody – him and Shakur. They don’t need to fight each other; they can beat up everybody else.
“I think Tim Bradley [and I] would’ve been like that. I wouldn’t have fought Tim.”
Former sparring partners Crawford and Bradley could have potentially squared off in 2015, back when they held the WBO world title at super-lightweight and welterweight, respectively.
Bradley, however, ended up losing to Manny Pacquiao in his final outing in 2016, while Crawford became an undisputed champion before replicating the feat at welterweight and super-middleweight.
