By Ian S Palmer
Southpaw Errol Spence Jr. of Long Island, New York will be putting his IBF World Welterweight Title on the line for the fourth time this Saturday, September 28th when he faces WBC Champion Shawn Porter of Akron, Ohio in a title unification bout. The 12-round tilt takes place at the Staple Center in Los Angeles, California and can be seen live in America on Fox Pay-Per-View. Fans in the UK can catch the fight on Sky Sports Action. Spence last fought in March when be beat Mikey Garcia by a unanimous decision. Porter last saw action in March as well when he edged Yordenis Ugas by a split decision.
Spence won his title in May, 2017 when he stopped former champion Kell Brook in England in the 11th round. He defended it against Lamont Peterson after seven rounds in January of 2018 and then stopped Carlos Ocampo in the first before meeting Garcia. The 29-year-old year-old champ will enter the ring with a perfect record of 25-0 along with 21 Kos. He stepped up in class for the first time when meeting Chris Algieri in April of 2016 and then by meeting Brook and Peterson after previously beating opponents such as Phil Lo Greco, Chris van Heerden, Samuel Vargas and Alejandro Barrera.
Spence has boxed 108 rounds since turning pro in 2012, but also has a lot of amateur experience as he competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. He isn’t that tall as he stands just over 5-feet-9-inches and has a 72-inch reach. He has very good speed and power and enters the fight with a highly-impressive knockout ratio of 84 per cent despite not being regarded as a one-punch knockout artist. However, he had won 11 straight fights by way of stoppage until Garcia took him the distance. Spence has a fine jab and will be trying to establish it before unleashing his power shots against Garcia.
The 31-year-old Porter won the vacant WBC title his last time out when he beat Danny Garcia by unanimous decision last September and then defended it against Ugas. He is 30-2-1 with 17 Kos and is also a former IBF Welterweight Champion. He lost that title via a close majority decision to Kell Brook of England in August of 2014 with his other defeat being a unanimous decision to WBA Champ Keith Thurman in June, 2016. His draw was a 10-round affair against Julio Diaz in 2012. Porter’s a blue-collar boxer with a lot of energy to burn, but isn’t known as a big knockout puncher.
He’s scored his share of stoppages though with a current knockout ratio of 51.5 per cent. Porter stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 69.5-inch wingspan which puts him just over two inches shorter than Spence in both height and reach. He also enjoyed a fine amateur career before turning pro in 2008 and has 219 rounds under his belt since then. His best victories have been against Andre Berto, Adrien Broner, Julio Diaz in a rematch, Paulie Malignaggi, Devon Alexander, Phil Lo Greco, Erick Bone and Alfonso Gomez. Porter has a pretty good chin, but Broner did manage to drop him in last round in June,2015. Porter’s been taken the distance in 11 of his last 14 contests.
Prediction…
These are two relatively small but highly-skilled welterweight titleholders. Porter’s key to winning is to throw a high volume of punches every round and try to get on the inside while being wary of counter shots. Spence has a small reach and height advantage and is the more composed boxer while Porter is more energetic in the ring. Spence will have to keep up to Porter’s pace and I give him the edge as he’s the more solid of the two with better power and chin. Porter is naturally more aggressive and if he stays true to his usual style it should make things quite interesting. Don’t rule anything out, even a draw, but for somebody to back I’ll go with Spence.
