Terence Crawford, Julius Indongo fight for undisputed junior welterweight title

The winner of Saturday’s Terence Crawford-Julius Indongo bout will earn a rare championship title. One that isn’t known for three letters from the long list of alphabet titles.

The victor will be called the undisputed champion.

Four world title belts will be on the line when Crawford meets Indongo in a junior welterweight main event at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. The fight will air at 7 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.

Crawford, the hometown favorite from Omaha, Nebraska, will defend his WBC and WBO belts against Indongo, the Namibian who holds the WBA and IBF straps.

It’s only the fourth time during the four-belt era that all major belts will be up for grabs and the first in 12 years. Bernard Hopkins participated in the first three bouts when he defeated Oscar De La Hoya to unify the middleweight division. Hopkins successfully defended his four belts against Howard Eastman, but lost them against Jermain Taylor.

Crawford, considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers, is the heavy favorite, but Indongo could be his toughest opponent.

Indongo (22-0, 11 knockouts) earned a lot of respect in the past year by going into his last two opponents’ backyards to take their championships. He defeated Eduard Troyanovsky in Russia to win the IBF belt, then beat Ricky Burns in Scotland for the WBA belt.

“Not at all,” Indongo said when asked if he imagined fighting for all the belts. “This is a big surprise. I wasn’t even fighting for continental belts and all the other smaller belts. I’m so grateful for the opportunity for the world championships.”

Crawford (31-0, 22 KOs) admitted during Wednesday’s media conference call he didn’t know who Indongo was a year ago.

Indongo is an 11-1 underdog and Crawford a 1-20 favorite, according to William Hill.

“I want to be labeled as the man who won all four (belts) in my state of Nebraska,” Crawford said. “I want to make history.”

Porter withdraws

Las Vegas resident Shawn Porter pulled out of his welterweight match against Thomas Dulorme that was scheduled to headline the Fox preliminary card Aug. 26 before the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor Showtime pay per view.

Porter withdrew for personal reasons, which included a death in his family.

Another Las Vegas resident, Yordenis Ugas (19-3, 9 KOs), will replace Porter and take on Dulorme (24-2, 16 KOs) in the main preliminary bout.

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Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GManzano24 on Twitter.