Shawn Porter is in a story-telling mood. And at first, this one has nothing to do with boxing.
When Shawn Porter was around 10 years old, he was playing running back in a football game as his father, Kenny, coached on the sideline. On one play, a defender leveled Shawn, knocking him into the air and spilling him onto the sideline. Shawn smiled.
Well, not for long. Shawn recalled how Kenny picked him up by the shoulder pads, and yelled instructions at him that has stuck with him until this day — “Tell him to bring it some more,” Shawn recalled.
When Porter is done telling the story, it’s clear why he’ll be in the ring this Saturday against undefeated welterweight Terence “Bud” Crawford (9 p.m. ESPN+ PPV), who has long been considered one of the best fighters in the world.
Porter has always shown a willingness to take on the biggest names in the welterweight division throughout his career. In many ways, he has been the proverbial “glue guy” for Premier Boxing Champions and the entire 147-pound weight class.
It’s not by accident. It’s the only way Porter knows how to operate.
“It’s like it’s a part of my makeup,” Porter told ESPN. “It’s like who I am. The only thing that I know is, ‘Who’s the target, who’s the best? Go get him.'”
The most defining element of this current welterweight era is the inability for the best fight to get made — Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) against fellow undefeated champion Errol Spence Jr. During a virtual news conference last week, Crawford said that the fight he has pursued for so long is behind him, as all efforts to this point have been futile.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, after Saturday’s fight, Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) will have fought all three current welterweight champions as of Saturday — Crawford, Spence and Yordenis Ugas, with the latter representing Porter’s lone win to date against that trio to date. And a lot of that has to do with an unflinching determination that his opponents can recognize.
“Shawn Porter is no ‘pick ’em’ type of fighter,” Crawford said. “He’ll fight anybody and it’s been proven that he’ll fight anybody. That’s pretty much how you sum up who he’s been fighting, because he’s been fighting all the top welterweights in the division.”
Porter’s alignment with Premier Boxing Champions has unquestionably helped him secure big fights. Crawford, who is in the last fight of his contract with Top Rank Promotions, is facing a PBC fighter for the first time since his run in the 147-pound division.
But the matchmaking is also a manifestation of the aggressive style that has flustered opponents throughout his career. Porter recalled back to his first amateur fight as an 8-year-old, when Kenny Porter told him he needed to throw punches “until they cut the lights off” in order to ensure victory.
Over time, as father and son barnstormed the country, climbed the amateur ranks and then set off on a successful pro career, that aggressiveness has been Porter’s calling card. It has also made him a fan-friendly fighter and one who will always put on a good show.
“It’s almost like it’s two-fold, man,” Porter said. “It’s the automatic weapon to entertain fans but it’s also the automatic weapon to be successful in the ring.”
That approach was also Porter’s downfall in his 2014 loss to Kell Brook, who is the only other fighter to face both Spence and Crawford. Brook used Porter’s aggression against him as he handed the Ohio native his first professional loss.
That was probably the best version of Brook, who hasn’t quite been the same since he suffered a severe eye injury in a loss against Gennady Golovkin in 2016. In his most recent fight, one year ago this week against Brook, Crawford only needed four rounds to dispatch him by TKO.
“I know people like to make the comparison between us fighting him and Terence fighting him (in 2020),” said Kenny Porter, who still trains Shawn. “I believe that when we fought him, he was a different fighter.”
The tough fights through Porter’s career has instilled confidence and a deep bank of experiences he can pull from in critical moments. He has also faced virtually every style one can see — an aspect he believes will give him an edge against Crawford.
A win would seal Porter’s status as one of the best welterweights in his era, not just a guy who has been willing to fight the best. But while the former is up for debate, there’s no question about the latter.
Said Porter: “As I’ve gotten older and people are saying, ‘Well, you just fight everybody, why do you do that?’ I’m like, ‘This is what boxing is. This is what you’re supposed to do, right?'”
At his core, Porter is still that running back who is comfortable lowering his shoulder, plowing through whomever is in his way. That means taking on Crawford in another seek-and-destroy mission that has made him unique for his era.
“You’re looking at Bud and Bud’s the ‘boogeyman,'” Porter said, using his fingers to mimic air quotes at the end of that phrase. “Or Bud’s the guy that no one can beat, is the most feared and the most avoided and all this and that.
“I’m the kid on the sidelines that just got hit and I’m like, ‘OK, who’s next? Where is he? Here I come.'”
DALLAS — Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele scored a goal in his club’s must-win Game 6 of the second-round playoff series at Dallas on Saturday night, hours after the unexpected death of his father.
But he also had the penalty that set up the Stars’ power-play goal in overtime for a 2-1 win that knocked the top-ranked Jets out of the playoffs.
Jets captain Adam Lowry went and got Scheifele out of the box when the game ended.
“We’re a family. Just to let him know that we’re there for him. It’s just an awful day for him,” Lowry said. “You want to give him the strength, you want to get that kill so bad. We just couldn’t do it.”
During the handshake line afterward, Scheifele hugged and talked to just about everyone, with Stars players clearly offering their support to him in a heartwarming moment.
Scheifele scored his fifth goal of the playoffs 5½ minutes into the second period to give the Jets a 1-0 lead. He scored on a short snap shot from just outside the crease after gathering the rebound of a shot by Kyle Connor.
“I just I know we have a great group here. I knew, going in, once we found out the news that he’s going to have a great support group and we’re going to be there for him through the highs and the lows and obviously today was a real low,” defenseman Neal Pionk said of Scheifele. “[We] did everything we could to give him some words of encouragement, [and] for him to play tonight, and play the way he did, is flat out one of the most courageous things we’ve ever seen.”
The game was tied at 1 when Sam Steel, who had already scored for Dallas, was on a break. Scheifele lunged forward desperately trying to make a play when he tripped up the forward at the blue line with 14.8 seconds in regulation. Scheifele and the Jets avoided a penalty shot on the play, but ended up losing on the power play when Thomas Harley scored 1:33 into overtime.
Jets coach Scott Arniel said the news of Brad Scheifele’s passing overnight was difficult for the entire team. The team was told before the optional morning skate.
“On behalf of the Winnipeg Jets family, our condolences to Mark and his family. It rocked us all this morning when we found out,” Arniel said before the game. “Mark will be playing tonight. As he said, that’d be the wishes of his dad. He would have wanted him to play.”
Scheifele was the last Jets player to leave the ice following pregame warmups, and during at least part of the singing of “O Canada,” he had his head bowed and his eyes closed. He took the opening faceoff against Roope Hintz.
“The thing about Mr. Scheifele is he’s part of our family. He’s part of the Jets family. He goes back to 2011 when Mark was first drafted here,” Arniel said. “We have a lot of players that came in around the time that are still here that he’s been a big part of their life, along with their family. So it’s certainly, obviously devastating for Mark, but also for a lot of guys on this team.”
Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said the organization was doing everything it can to support Scheifele. There was no immediate word on the cause of Brad Scheifele’s death.
The 32-year-old Mark Scheifele finished with 11 points (five goals, six assists) while playing in 11 of the Jets’ 13 games this postseason. He missed Games 6 and 7 of the first-round series against St. Louis with an undisclosed injury after taking a pair of big hits early in Game 5 of that series.
In Game 5 against the Stars on Thursday night, a 4-0 win by Winnipeg that extended the series, Scheifele was sucker-punched by Stars captain Jamie Benn during a late scrum. Benn got a game misconduct penalty and was fined by the NHL the maximum-allowed $5,000 but avoided a suspension.
Scheifele had 87 points (39 goals and 48 assists) in the 82 regular-season games.
DALLAS — Thomas Harley scored on a power play 1:33 into overtime and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Western Conference final for the third season in a row, beating the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets2-1 in Game 6 on Saturday night.
Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets hours after the unexpected death of his father, but also had a tripping penalty with 14.8 seconds left in regulation that set up Dallas to start overtime with a man advantage.
Sam Steel, who had scored earlier for Dallas, was on a break when Scheifele lunged forward desperately trying to make a play when he tripped up the forward at the blue line. The Stars called a timeout, but missed a shot and had another one blocked before the end of regulation.
The Stars move on to face the Edmonton Oilers in the West final for the second year in a row and will host Game 1. Connor McDavid and his club, which won in six games last year, wrapped up their second-round series with a 1-0 overtime win over Vegas on Wednesday night in Game 5.
Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger made 22 saves to wrap up his sixth playoff series win over the past three seasons. He made an incredible diving save with 8½ minutes left in regulation, leaning to the right before having to lunge back across his body toward the left post to knock down a shot by Mason Appleton.
Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 19 shots but couldn’t prevent a loss that assured a winless record for his club on the road this postseason. Meanwhile, his final goal allowed continued a magical season for Harley, Dallas’ breakout blueliner who also played for Team Canada this season in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“Not surprising to the guys in here,” Oettinger said of Harley’s rise to prominence. “We’re very lucky.”
Steel notched his first goal of the playoffs midway through the second period. He shot a long rebound from the top of the right circle, sending the puck into the upper right corner of the net just above Hellebuyck’s glove.
“I’m just disappointed,” Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry said. “We couldn’t get that [penalty] kill for [the fans], and get it back to win in Winnipeg for Game 7. But you know, [I’m] really proud of this group, and the way they handled everything, and the way we fought back. … It just came up short.”
The Jets become the next in a long line of Presidents’ Trophy winners to bow out early. The award, which goes to the NHL’s top regular-season team, was won by the New York Rangers last season before they lost in the Eastern Conference final. Two years ago, the No. 1 seed Boston Bruins lost in the first round to the Florida Panthers.
“We lost to a great team,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “We lost to a team that was in our rearview mirror all year long.”
Scheifele’s effort was a focus for Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, who began his postgame media availability by saying what the Jets star forward did in playing Saturday was “courageous,” adding “I’m sure his dad would’ve been really proud of him and what he did.”
For the Stars, it’s off to the NHL’s final four, as the franchise continues to seek its second Stanley Cup title.
“I think we’ve got something special going on. We’re going to have to prove it again,” DeBoer said. “You know, we’ve been to this spot the last two years and haven’t taken the next step, so that’s the challenge.”
As the Vegas Golden Knights absorb being knocked out in the second round of the NHL playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers, they don’t have to wait long before planning for their future. Jack Eichel, who has one season left on his eight-year, $80 million contract, is eligible for an extension beginning July 1.
“He’s one of the top guys in the NHL,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “He’s got great character, great leadership. You see night in, night out what he does for our team, so that will be a really important piece of business for us. We certainly hope to keep Jack in our organization. Jack loves it here, so I would hope we could find common ground.”
Eichel, 28, comes off the best season of his 10-year career, the past four with the Golden Knights. He set career highs with 66 assists and 94 points to go with 28 goals as the center on the team’s top line. He also skated for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off, where his club finished second to Canada.
“Can’t say enough about my teammates and the people in this building and the people that make this organization what it is,” Eichel said. “I’m super proud to be part of this organization and the city and represent the Vegas Golden Knights. Contractually, I think things kind of take care of itself. I’ll just worry about trying to prepare for next season this offseason and go from there.”
Management, which is not known for sitting on its hands, will have other significant decisions to make as well on the team’s direction after the Golden Knights were eliminated in the second round for the second year in a row.
“I like our team,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I don’t have a problem with any player in that room. I think every one of them is a great teammate. They care about one another. Are there areas of our game we could complement better? Probably. We’ll evaluate that.
“All the guys that were up, their contracts, they were all good players for us. All good players. No disappointments at all. We’ll probably have to look at areas because we’re not the last team standing. Usually, you think, ‘Where can we upgrade? Where can I upgrade what I do?'”
McCrimmon offered a similar assessment.
“I feel our team was good enough to win,” McCrimmon said.
The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup two years ago and thought they had another contender this season after capturing the Pacific Division and securing the Western Conference’s second-best record. But Vegas had to rally from a 2-1 series deficit to beat Minnesota in the opening round, winning twice in overtime. Then the Golden Knights lost two overtime games in the 4-1 series loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
“I didn’t walk away from Edmonton saying, ‘We had no chance. They’re just better,'” Cassidy said. “I didn’t feel that way. I felt we needed to execute better in a few of the games and we could be the team moving on.”
Forward William Karlsson said losing to the Oilers made it “a wasted season.” McCrimmon wasn’t as blunt, instead labeling the loss as “a missed opportunity.”
Change will come, but at least given the tenor of the comments by Cassidy and McCrimmon, the Golden Knights will largely return their roster intact next season.
“I think we have a great organization,” goaltender Adin Hill said. “Best management I’ve been under. I think they’re going to do the things that they see fit for [the] roster, whether it’s keeping it the same or whether it’s changing up a few things. I don’t know. That’s their decision, above my paygrade, but it will be exciting to see. We know that we’re going to be contenders every year.”
Forward Reilly Smith made it clear he wants to return. An original Golden Knight, Smith was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins after winning the Stanley Cup and then sent to the New York Rangers a year later. The Golden Knights reacquired the 34-year-old on March 6.
Smith made a smooth transition back into the lineup with three goals and eight assists in 21 games. Then he delivered the play of the postseason for the Golden Knights, scoring with 0.4 seconds left to beat the Oilers in Game 3, and finished with three goals and an assist in 11 playoff games.
“Probably the best hockey I’ve played in my career has been wearing this jersey,” Smith said. “It’s a fun group to be a part of and a fun place to call home. My family loves it here, so if there’s a way to make it work, it’d be great. At the end of the day, it’s a business. My contract negotiations, I probably know as little as [the media does] right now.”
