Danny Garcia vs. Shawn Porter preview and prediction
Two of the best welterweights in the world face off this Saturday, when Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter meet in Brooklyn for the vacant WBC Welterweight title.
Whenever two of the top five fighters in a given division face off, it is almost guaranteed to be a great fight. That is why fans are so excited for this Saturday, when the vacant WBC title will be on the line when Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter meet in Brooklyn.
Both men have suffered defeats at the hand of Keith Thurman, and the belt that was once his will be the one on the line Saturday due to Thurman vacating the title in April.
Both Garcia and Porter have to feel confident leading in to this fight, as both are among the best in their division, and each has apparent advantages over the other.
Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs), whose only loss came to Thurman, has to feel confident in his counter punching ability. He is a quite good counter puncher, and while he doesn’t have otherworldly power, he certainly has some pop on his punches. His “no-look” left hook is an excellent punch and can drastically change a fight if it lands clean (just ask Amir Khan).
He also has a pretty good chin, he was able to take some serious shots from Keith Thurman, and while he was hurt, he was never in serious trouble where it looked as though the fight would be stopped. If Danny is able to land his counters cleanly on Saturday, he will be able to win rounds. Porter will be there to be hit, but Danny is going to have to move his feet more than he is accustomed to unless he wants to get bullied and overpowered by the stronger and more aggressive Porter.
Porter (28-2-1, 17 KOs), on the other hand, is an excellent pressure fighter and knows how to use his strength advantage. He is able to make fights sloppy and push people to the ropes where he throws his punches. Porter has two losses, both to excellent fighters in Thurman and Kell Brook. Brook was able to use his superior boxing skills and footwork to avoid Porter’s relentless pressure and earn a decision victory. Thurman was also able to box form the outside en route to a decision win, but Porter was more effective against Thurman than he was against Brook.
This is why Porter must be feeling confident going into this fight. While Danny is an excellent power puncher, his footwork and boxing skills aren’t quite as good as Thurman’s or Brook’s. It is extremely likely that Porter’s pressure alone will win him rounds by befuddling Danny, and he may even be able to hurt him.
This isn’t to say that Porter is “unskilled” just because he is a pressure fighter. While his fights often get sloppy and he sometimes appears to just lower his head and bull-rush, Porter is a world-class fighter, and is skilled himself.
Prediction
This fight figures to be a great one. Garcia’s counter punching and Porter’s aggressive style figure to play well into each other, and deliver an exciting fight for fans. This is as close to a 50/50 matchup as you can get, but I am going with Garcia via very close decision.
Porter by knockout, Porter by decision or even Garcia by knockout are all very plausible and realistic outcomes, which is why fans are so excited for this fight.
I see it playing out with Porter winning early rounds based purely on his aggressiveness and Garcia’s slow start. However, I think Garcia survives the early assault and begins timing Porter with the cleaner, more effective shots. It is very possible that these counters begin to add up, leading to Porter being stopped, but I think we will most likely see hear final bell.
Porter figures to be aggressive every round, which can ultimately steal rounds on scorecards.
It’s going to be a tough one to score, and the judges will have their work cut out for them. I’m going with the the counter puncher who figures to land the cleaner punches.