Former welterweight world titleholders Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter officially have a date and a venue for their fight.
Garcia and Porter will meet for a vacant welterweight world title on Sept. 8 (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, promoters Lou DiBella and TGB Promotions’ Tom Brown announced on Tuesday.
“This hugely important matchup is between two of the best welterweights in the world and pressure fighters with pleasing styles,” DiBella said. “Both Garcia and Porter have shined in memorable battles at Barclays Center.”
The fight, always expected to land at Barclays Center, has been a long time coming. The camps have had a deal since late May for Garcia and Porter to meet for the belt relinquished by the injured Keith Thurman, who owns wins against Porter and Garcia but was not healthy enough to return to make his mandatory defense against Porter in a timely fashion.
Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs), 30, of Philadelphia, won a vacant welterweight title by unanimous decision against Robert Guerrero in 2016 but lost it in his first defense by split decision to Thurman in their much-hyped title unification fight in March 2017 at Barclays Center. Garcia returned in February and knocked out Brandon Rios in the ninth round.
“I’m excited and motivated to go in there and recapture what’s mine,” Garcia said. “The WBC title belongs to me. Come Sept. 8, I’m going to prove that I’m the best fighter in the world. My loss is behind me, and it’s given me a chip on my shoulder to run that extra mile and train even harder. I know that Shawn Porter is not on my level. I’m coming to fight him in the middle of the ring, and I’m going to beat him at his game.”
Porter (28-2-1, 17 KOs), 30, of Las Vegas, won a vacant welterweight title from Devon Alexander by unanimous decision in 2013, defended it once against Paulie Malignaggi and then lost it by majority decision to Kell Brook in 2014. Porter won his next two fights, including one against Adrien Broner, before challenging Thurman for his title and losing an exciting battle by unanimous decision in June 2016 at Barclays Center.
Since the loss to Thurman, Porter has won two fights in a row, including a ninth-round knockout of former titlist Andre Berto in a title eliminator that earned him another opportunity to fight for the belt 15 months ago. He has waited patiently for the title fight and is pleased to finally have the date with Garcia set.
“I’m going to force Danny Garcia to fight me, to be uncomfortable and to do things he’s not used to doing in a fight,” Porter said. “If Danny comes in being defensive and trying to hold, it may last a while. But if he comes and tries to trade with me and prove something to himself, then it will end fast. I think my style will give him problems and not allow him to pace himself. This is going to be an instant classic, and I’m going to win and become champion once again.”
The undercard has not been announced, but the expected co-feature is a mandatory fight between super middleweight world titleholder David Benavidez (20-0, 17 KOs), 21, of Phoenix, and former titlist Anthony Dirrell (32-1-1, 24 KOs), 33, of Flint, Michigan.