LAS VEGAS (AFP) - Unbeaten Terence Crawford made a successful defense of his WBO welterweight title on Saturday, stopping Shawn Porter by knocking the challenger down twice in the 10th round in Las Vegas.
Porter’s father and trainer, Ken, surprised the crowd at the Mandalay Bay casino by stopping the fight after the second knockdown to hand the 34-year-old Crawford his ninth-straight victory inside the distance.
Crawford initially felled Porter with a left uppercut on the button that buckled his knees early in the 10th.
It was all over at 1:21 of the round, when Crawford’s overhand right to the side of the head sent Porter to the canvas for a second time, prompting his father to climb the steps and ask referee Celestino Ruiz to halt the contest.
Porter got up from the second knockdown and appeared to be ready to continue, but his father felt he had enough, saying later his son was fighting “blindfolded.”
Shawn Porter, who dropped to 31-4-1 with 17 KOs, didn’t argue with the decision.