Terence Crawford finally claimed his welterweight victory on Saturday night at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Mandalay Bay. The one that had eluded him for the past three years and would solidify his status as the best 147 pounds in the world.

And with unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. at ringside, Crawford danced with his mother in the ring to the tune of Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody”.

A celebration worthy of a resounding statement.

Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) retained his WBO title by defeating former two-time welterweight champion Shawn Porter (31-4-1, 17 KOs) by technical knockout. He dropped Porter twice in the 10th round, forcing referee Celestino Ruiz to stop the fight at the behest of Porter’s father and trainer Kenny.

Shortly after the fight, Porter, 34, announced his retirement.

Porter had fought all of the top welterweights, including Spence in 2019 in Los Angeles. He had only been arrested on Saturday.

A crowd of 11,568 people watched in wonder.

“He’s the best of anyone I’ve been in the ring with,” Porter said. “He was on point, from A to Z, and he was so good I would like to do it again. … He has it. Inside and outside the ring.

Crawford established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world in 2017 by winning the undisputed junior welterweight championship. But his welterweight resume was rather bleak and devoid of a top contender.

He claimed during the promotion that he would make a statement against the tough and stubborn Porter who puts relentless pressure on every opponent.

Declaration made. With relative ease too.

Porter stuck to the familiar scenario against Crawford, who remained patient amid the assault. Crawford countered when he could and mixed clean body shots around a sharp blow in an attempt to break Porter. He finally broke through on lap 10, dropping Porter with a short meter to the left.

Porter was fit enough to get back up, but Crawford followed with a burst and dropped him again. The elder Porter couldn’t bear to see his son endure more punishment and waved a white towel, signaling the stop at 1:21.

Crawford led on all three scorecards, 87-84, 86-85, 86-85.

“He didn’t prepare the way I wanted him to prepare. He fought a great fighter. It was like fighting him blindfolded, ”said Kenny Porter. “Shawn was injured. He’s a sharp fighter, and my kid was in deficit and I couldn’t let him continue.

Crawford, 34, has long coveted a fight with Spence and admitted the WBC and IBF champion was in attendance. He continued to call her after beating Porter.

A potential fight between the two would be one of the most important in boxing, pitting two undefeated champions against each other.

Crawford referred to Spence’s victory over Porter, a split decision that pales in comparison to what Crawford has accomplished. Crawford landed 98 shots against Porter ‘s 79, per CompuBox. He also converted 38% of his powerful hits, compared to 26% for Porter.

“You see what I did versus what (Spence) did. … Who’s No. 1 in the welterweight division now? Crawford asked rhetorically. “You know who I want; I’ve been calling him all day – maybe Spence will pull his cock out of his ass and fight me.

Spence left the arena before Porter began his post-fight interview and was apparently dismayed at what he saw unfold in front of him. He was scheduled to face eight division champion Manny Pacquiao in August, but was forced to forfeit due to an eye injury.

It’s unclear when Spence will return to the ring, but he likely won’t fight Crawford in his first fight.

“Shawn Porter is a very good friend of mine. I didn’t really want to fight him, ”said Crawford, who stopped his last nine opponents. “We always said we would face each other when the time was right, and I guess the time was right for this fight to happen. I tried to fight the other division champions, and that didn’t happen, so I went on to the next best thing.

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. To follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.