By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBA Welterweight king Keith Thurman will be taking on fellow American Shawn Porter this Saturday, June 25th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Thurman of Clearwater, Florida was last in the ring close to a year ago when he stopped Luis Collazo of Brooklyn in the seventh round last July. Porter of Akron, Ohio last fought back in June of 2015 and was a 12-round unanimous decision winner over Adrien Broner of Cincinnati. Saturday’s 12-round fight can be seen live in the U.S. and Canada on the full CBS network while fans in the UK can catch the action live on Sky Sports. This bout was originally scheduled for March but was postponed after Thurman was involved in a minor traffic accident.
The 27-year-old Thurman will enter the ring with a perfect record of 26-0 along with 22 Kos. Thurman is stepping up in class again after taking on Collazo. The WBA champion is regarded as a skillful boxer/puncher who combines speed and power to produce a fan-friendly style. He’s got the power to stop most opponents and the boxing skill to wins decisions if he has to go the distance. Thurman possesses an effective jab which he often doubles or triples up on. He likes to back his foe up with the jab and then unleash power shots or combinations to the head and body.
Thurman is also quite an effective counterpuncher and is quite an intelligent boxer overall who can throw punches from a wide variety of angles. His hardest shot is the left hook and his mobility makes him one of boxing’s best prospects at the moment. He’s not the easiest guy to hit, and so far his chin has appeared to be pretty solid. He may have some ring rust to deal with though since he hasn’t seen any competitive action since July. Porter can’t afford to leave himself open when attacking Thurman or he’ll be tattooed with a quick barrage of punches. Thurman’s hand speed will give Porter problems even though the challenger has quick hands himself.
Thurman turned pro back n 2007 and has fought 112 rounds since then and owns a current knockout KO ratio of 81 per cent. He stands just over 5-feet-7-inches tall and has a reach of 69 inches. His best wins so far have been against Collazo, Robert Guerrero, Julio Diaz, Jesus Soto-Karass, Diego Chaves and Carlos Quintana. If there is a knock on him it’s that he hasn’t fought enough Grade A opponents as of yet. Most experts believe Porter will definitely he his stiffest test to date.
Porter is a former IBF Welterweight Champion, but lost his title via a close majority decision to Kell Brook of England in August of 2014. The 28-year-old has a fine record of 25-1-1 with 16 Kos. Porter is more of a blue-collar boxer who has a lot of energy to burn, but isn’t known as a big knockout puncher even though he’s his fair share of stoppages. His current knockout ratio stands at 57 per cent. Porter is 5-foot-7 and has a 69.5-inch wingspan. Therefore he’s basically the same size as Thurman for all intents and purposes. Porter turned pro in 2008 and has 162 rounds under his belt since then. His draw was a 10-round affair against Julio Diaz in 2012.
Porter’s best victories have been against Broner, Diaz in a rematch, Paulie Malignaggi, Devon Alexander, Phil Lo Greco and Alfonso Gomez. Porter seems to have a chin, but Broner did manage to drop him in the 12th and final round last year. Porter’s key to beating Thurman will be to throw a high volume of punches every round and make him back up if possible. However, there’s a good chance Thurman will be just as active. If Porter dictates the pace with his aggressive style it’s still going to be hard to outworked and outpunch the champion. Porter will need to keep the pressure on and make sure he’s out of range when Thurman decides to counter.
Prediction…
This is an excellent and close matchup and it’s not easy trying to pick a winner. Both are fine boxers with excellent speed and good chins even though Porter’s been down before. Thurman has the edge in power though and when combined with his speed that could be the difference. If the champion lets his hands go he should do enough to keep his belt via decision or a late stoppage.
