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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.'”

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Kentucky Derby to remain on NBC through 2032

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Kentucky Derby to remain on NBC through 2032

STAMFORD, Conn. — The Kentucky Derby will remain on NBC through 2032 after the network and Churchill Downs Inc. extended their contract, announcing it hours before the running of the 150th race Saturday.

The race switched to NBC in 2001 after airing on ABC from 1975 to 2000 and CBS from 1952 to 1974. The multiyear extension will make NBC the longest-running home of the race for 3-year-old horses.

The deal includes multiplatform rights to the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, and Derby and Oaks day programming, which will be presented on NBC, Peacock, USA Network and additional NBCU platforms.

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Padres trade for Marlins batting champ Arraez

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Padres trade for Marlins batting champ Arraez

The San Diego Padres have acquired second baseman Luis Arraez in a trade with the Miami Marlins for reliever Woo-Suk Go and prospects Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella, the teams announced Saturday.

The Padres also received nearly $7.9 million in cash considerations, leaving them responsible only for the major league minimum salary for Arraez.

The transaction represents the first significant move for the Marlins since Peter Bendix took over as the team’s president of baseball operations in November after Kim Ng departed. It marks the beginning of the Marlins’ teardown of an underachieving roster that has produced the third-worst record in the majors at 9-25 with a minus-61 run differential after reaching the postseason in 2023.

On the other side, it’s another aggressive deal for A.J. Preller, the leader of the Padres’ front office since 2014. Arraez, one of the sport’s best contact hitters, will give the Padres a needed left-handed-hitting weapon after Juan Soto was sent to the New York Yankees in December. San Diego is 17-18 with a plus-6 run differential.

“It’s really amazing — that guy is a baller,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said about Arraez after the Padres’ win Friday night. “He’s probably the closest to Tony Gwynn right now, so looking forward to seeing him in our lineup. … The guy’s a pure hitter, and I can’t wait for him to help us.”

Miami is paying San Diego $7,898,602 of the $8,491,398 remaining for the final 149 days of Arraez’s $10.6 million salary. That left his cost to the Padres at $592,796 — exactly a prorated share of the $740,000 minimum.

Arraez, 27, was the Marlins’ best player, an All-Star and batting champion each of the past two seasons. This season, he is batting .299 with a .719 OPS in 33 games, all started at second base. He also has extensive experience at first base.

“When a guy like that is taken out of the lineup or potentially traded, you feel it, because he’s such a good kid and one of the leaders in that clubhouse,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said, “so there’s definitely a shock value.”

Arraez is expected to start games as the Padres’ designated hitter, but the club plans to cycle through the DH spot. Jake Cronenworth, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado could also get at-bats there. Bogaerts has been the club’s starting second baseman.

Go spent seven seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization before signing a two-year deal with a mutual option worth $4.5 million guaranteed during the offseason. The 25-year-old right-hander appeared in 10 games for Double-A San Antonio, posting a 4.38 ERA across 12⅓ innings after failing to make the Padres’ bullpen out of spring training.

Head was the Padres’ first-round pick (25th overall) last year out of high school. The 19-year-old center fielder is batting .237 with a .683 OPS and three stolen bases in 21 games in low-Class A.

Martorella is batting .294 with an .820 OPS in 23 games in San Antonio. The Padres selected the 23-year-old first baseman in the fifth round of the 2022 draft. Marsee, a 22-year-old outfielder, has spent the season in San Antonio batting .185 with two home runs. He was a sixth-round pick in 2022 out of Central Michigan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Yanks’ Cole takes next step, throws off mound

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Yanks' Cole takes next step, throws off mound

NEW YORK — Yankees ace Gerrit Cole threw off a mound Saturday morning for the first time since being shut down in mid-March, checking off another box in his road back from an elbow injury.

Cole took the mound in the Yankees’ bullpen at 10:40 a.m., hours before New York took on the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium. He said he threw 15 pitches, 13 for strikes and all fastballs. He said the pitches averaged 89 mph.

“It was exciting,” Cole said. “This was a good day for me. I was fired up.”

Cole, 33, started the season on the 60-day injured list after being diagnosed with nerve irritation and edema in his pitching elbow following one spring training outing. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner is eligible to come off the injured list May 27, but the Yankees have declined to share a timetable for Cole’s return.

On a scale from 1 to 10 — 10 being game ready — Cole reported he is “somewhere between 1 and 5.” He said how his body responds over the next 48 hours will decide when he throws off a mound again.

Cole’s injury was a significant blow to a club with championship-or-bust aspirations, but the Yankees’ starting rotation has been one of the best in the majors and a primary reason for the team’s 21-13 start. The rotation’s 3.43 ERA through Friday ranked ninth in the majors. Its 183⅔ innings pitched ranked fourth.

Luis Gil, Cole’s rotation replacement, logged the best start of his young career Wednesday, holding the explosive Baltimore Orioles scoreless on two hits over a career-high 6⅓ innings. Gil, 25, has recorded a 3.19 ERA in 31 innings across six starts despite leading the American League with 20 walks.

Earlier this week, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said neither the team’s nor the rotation’s success will impact Cole’s timeline. Asked whether the overall success has made his absence more “palatable,” Cole was unsure.

“I don’t really have anything unpalatable to compare it to,” Cole said. “You know what I’m saying? So I’m just kind of like, just like everybody else, just glad we’re playing well.”

Also on Saturday, the Yankees reinstated infielder Jon Berti from the 10-day injured list and designated former first-round pick Taylor Trammell for assignment.

Berti, 34, has been out of the Yankees’ lineup since April 10 with a left groin strain. The Yankees had selected Trammell off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 18, and he collected 1 hit, 1 walk and 2 runs in five games with New York.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.

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