Shawn Porter, who is looking to rebound from his narrow points loss to Keith Thurman in one of 2016’s best fights, faces Andre Berto in a compelling crossroads clash on April 22 (Showtime, 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT).
Since Shawn Porter dismantled Devon Alexander to claim the IBF welterweight title in an upset, the tenacious American was placed on a collision course with fellow upstart Keith Thurman in what was viewed as a marquee fight in a talent-laden welterweight division. By the time Premier Boxing Champions launched in March of 2015, even Porter’s razor-thin points setback against Kell Brook hadn’t dampened the enthusiasm for Thurman-Porter.
But before Shawn Porter got to fight Keith Thurman, the match was left to marinate. Porter (26-2-1, 16 KOs) scored a comeback knockout of Erick Bone and then dominated (other than a twelfth-round knockdown) Adrien Broner to set the stage for a bout fans had been rabidly anticipating for years.
Somehow, despite inordinate expectations, Thurman-Porter lived up to the hype and proved that both combatants were worthy of being standard-bearers in a division eager to move on from the era defined, and more recently held hostage, by Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. With the likes of Porter, Thurman, Brook and Errol Spence Jr. in the mix, 147 pounds sported an embarrassment of riches and seemingly endless possibilities for mouthwatering match-ups.
Shawn Porter is keenly aware of this, and at 29, as he enters a crucial, defining phase of his career, understands that the current crop of elite welterweights could, over the next several years, produce myriad fights that solidify his era’s place in boxing history as one defined by the sum of its incredible parts. There is indeed a long way to go, but Porter’s fights with Brook and Thurman appear to have laid important groundwork for the division’s best consistently facing each other.
For Porter, balancing this sense of being part of something special with his natural competitive drive and desire for individual glory is key, and much of that can be linked to the Thurman fight, which Porter is convinced he won.
“Realistically, I didn’t agree with the scorecards, but a round or two separated me from becoming the champion,” Porter told FanSided. “And I think that’s how it could be with a lot of the other guys in my weight class. I think we’re all that good and can push each other. It’s hard to call who’s that much better until we get in the ring. I think that this could be a situation where it’s an era of greatness.”
Recently, Keith Thurman bested Danny Garcia to unify the WBA and WBC welterweight titles in a genuinely meaningful fight. In May, Errol Spence Jr. will travel to Kell Brook’s backyard and attempt to wrest the IBF title from the Sheffield man in arguably the division’s most mouthwatering clash. And Porter, as he aims for another run at a world title, tangles with two-time champion Andre Berto in a bout that promises fireworks and is imbued with must-win stakes.
Porter finds himself in a simultaneously ideal and precarious position: he’s 2-2 over his last four fights, although both losses have come against the division’s best in Brook and Thurman in competitive contests; a win against Berto (31-4, 24 KOs) immediately propels Porter back into the championship picture, but a loss could mire his career in a relative wasteland.
Despite the pressure inherent in the Berto fight, Shawn Porter feels that the past several years — the triumphs, setbacks, stretches of inactivity and more — have helped him mature and develop a sounder mind and clearer perspective on his career, as well as a more profound understanding of what works for him in the ring. The effects, however, go beyond boxing.
“Outside of the ring, I think it’s just helped me mature,” Porter said. “All of the different obstacles and things that you struggle with and go through in the ring, you have some of those same obstacles in life.”
Both of Porter’s losses have helped him understand the mental and physical level he needs to be at in order to compete against the absolute best. Porter concedes that he was a shell of his current self against Brook — in the sense that he relentlessly gunned for a stoppage in all 12 rounds at the expense of cerebral, scientific boxing. But versus Thurman, Porter felt he fought intelligently other than eating a few too many flush shots early on. This noticeable improvement was encouraging, although it didn’t damped the disappointment of defeat in the biggest fight of his life.
“It was a special night,” Porter admitted of the Thurman fight. “You know, right now, my first thought just went to the back room after the fight. It was a bittersweet moment for me. I really did feel like I did everything I could to win the fight. I felt like I had won the fight. To not have my hands raised – it definitely did hurt me. At the same time, hearing the praise and the way everyone talked about the fight is cool, but I would have much rather been on the winning side of that moment.”
Although Shawn Porter is eager to get another crack at Keith Thurman, he’s singularly focused on Andre Berto and understands that any future aspirations must go through the former two-time world champion — a 2004 Olympian for Haiti and a skilled operator with a penchant for being drawn into slugfests.
Porter describes Berto as similarly “strong-minded” and acknowledges that the veteran has a dangerous blend of strength, explosiveness and will. But Porter also asserts that he intends to dictate the fight’s pace and the terms of exchanges in order to draw Berto out of his comfort zone.
“I don’t allow any fighter I get in the ring with to be comfortable,” Porter stated.
While the intent to control every aspect of a fight often comes across as hyperbolic, it carries more weight coming from Shawn Porter. His patented aggression and ability to apply pressure enable him to draw opponents into his kind of fight, which typically leads to his foe drowning amidst a swarm of thudding punches and punishing wrestling on the inside. While this is undoubtedly true, it somewhat detracts from Porter’s legitimate boxing skills that he honed as a top amateur. Against Berto, Porter will need to show the breadth of his abilities if he intends to make a meaningful statement.
Much has been written about Porter’s relationship with his father and trainer, Kenny, whose presence and influence have been a constant in Shawn’s life, both in and out of the ring. At a distance, Kenny Porter can appear overbearing, but closer scrutiny and hearing Shawn talk glowingly about his father reveals a profound love, respect and partnership that belies the typically acrimonious familial bonds that boxing is known for.
Porter spoke about how Kenny was instrumental in helping him deal with his two defeats. They’ve already successfully overcome the Brook loss, and now the challenge lies in proving that the Thurman fight was an aberration on the road to greater success. Although Porter is favored to beat Berto, this fight is an important litmus test for this father-son tandem.
“I think my dad has gone through so much in his lifetime that he knows that a loss in my career is a moment,” Porter said. “As long as we’re able to learn from it and grow from it, we’ll become better from it and we’ll always be champions; even going beyond the ring, we’ll be champions in life. That is the number one thing I’ve learned from my dad. Even when we take a loss – when I take a loss – we’re eager to learn from the loss, eager to get back in the ring to avenge the loss.”
If Porter’s subtler abilities tend to get overlooked, it’s due to a variety of factors: his seek-and-destroy application of pressure, his ripped physique and the growling facial expression he sports when going on the offensive that Porter himself acknowledged might mislead people into thinking he’s fighting with anger.
But Porter made a point to emphasize that his development as a pugilist is an ongoing learning process and that he’s continued to strengthen a body/mind harmony that will serve as the key to unlocking an even more dangerous and complete fighter than the one who burst onto the world scene in 2013. Porter’s education is best explained via his early years in the gym, which highlighted his undeniable raw talent, while hinting at the awesome potential that he’s now fully harnessing.
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“It’s funny,” Porter reminisced. “I started sparring with professionals at a young age. And I would always beat those guys up for about four rounds, but then I wasn’t ready for that sixth/seventh round pace that those guys were ready for. They’d come out, and that sixth round was closer, that seventh round even closer, that eighth round… I’ve grown. I’ve learned a lot about my body and my mind.”