By: Hans Themistode
For much of the build-up between Shawn Porter and Terence Crawford, trainer Brian “Bomac” McIntyre has remained mostly quiet.
Much like Crawford, Bomac is more interested in silently putting in the work in behind the scenes. However, with fight night mere hours away, the long-time trainer didn’t hold back when asked what he expects to happen at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, tonight.
“We gonna beat the sh*t out of the boy,” said Bomac to a group of reporters.
Crawford, 34, as well as his trainer, have long been irritated by the same mundane narrative. While the Omaha, Nebraska, product has claimed world titles in three separate divisions and is currently in the midst of a three-year title reign at 147 pounds, he’s yet to face any of the elite welterweights. Nevertheless, with Porter next up on Crawford’s docket, things are expected to change.
All things considered, Porter has established his reputation through the all-out wars he’s experienced in the ring. Though he’s been able to wrap welterweight gold around his waist on two separate occasions, he’s come up short in some of his biggest fights.
In August of 2014, after already establishing himself as a world champion, Porter saw his title reign come to an end at the hands of Kell Brook via majority decision. Two years later, the Akron, Ohio, native found himself in a fight of the year contender against former unified champion, Keith Thurman.
Although Porter had his moments, he would be forced to settle for a close unanimous decision defeat. Following that disappointing outcome, Porter went on to pick up wins against former two-division champion Danny Garcia, former welterweight star Andre Berto, and current WBA belt holder Yordenis Ugas.
With now his second world title reign, Porter attempted to unify the division against Errol Spence Jr. However, the now 34-year-old sauntered out of the ring in disbelief, as he was the recipient of a split decision loss.
Though he’s competed against the best of the best at 147 pounds and is considered elite, Bomac isn’t convinced that Porter has what it takes to truly test his pound-for-pound star. As fight night slowly approaches, Bomac is asking for those who will be in attendance, as well as those who will be watching around the world, to simply juxtapose the performance of Crawford later on tonight, to his fellow peers that have struggled with the relentless pressure of Porter.
“All of those close losses that he got against Spence and Thurman, Crawford is going to make him look like a B level fighter.”