As boxing fans we suffer through many mismatches, fights where the winner is essentially pre-ordained and it’s merely a matter of seeing how the expected result is achieved.
Sure there are also plenty of matches that engender division among fans where the outcome can be argued but there is still typically a clear favorite.
Then there is the fight between former welterweight titleholders Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter, who will square off for a vacant 147-pound world title on Saturday (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, in a match that most expect to be entertaining and one universally viewed as a 50-50 proposition. Even those picking one man or the other likely have not done so with strong conviction.
However, both fighters, who have not really trash talked each other but don’t particularly care for one another, are supremely confident in a victory that would given them tremendous standing in the star-studded welterweight division.
“I know I’m the better all-around fighter,” Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs), a former two-division world titleholder, said. “I can just do more in the ring than Shawn Porter, period. I’m going to prove it on Saturday.”
Porter (28-2-1, 17 KOs) countered, “One way or another, I’m ready to do whatever it takes to win this fight. There’s nothing I’ve ever wanted in my entire life more than this. I’m out here to take it. Anything Danny is coming with, I’m taking it. It’s mine. Whatever it takes, I will not be stopped on Saturday night.”
This is your ESPN.com Ringside Seat for the fight:
Styles make fights
Their boxing styles should make for appealing fight.
Porter is a bull. He usually comes straight ahead, looking to rough up his opponent behind his jab. Sometimes his head and elbows get involved.
“We always work on the jab to start our training session,” Porter said. “Everyone knows that everything I do comes off of my jab. It’s all about the fundamentals. My dad (trainer Ken Porter) is smart and knows my athletic potential is there. He’s focused on all the technical and strategic parts of the game. Whether we look to box or not will be a game-time decision. We’ll have to read the fight. I think we’re going to start trying to mix it up and then take it from there. It’s up to me to see the adjustments and make them.
“Danny’s counterpunching I think plays into my hands. I’m a combination puncher. There’s more than one coming. I think that my ability to mix it up is going to create a problem for him. The variance in my styles and punches is going to be too much for him. I’m going to keep him on his toes, keep him guessing and keep him off balance. That’s the key to winning Saturday.”
Garcia is a more skillful boxer and a natural counterpuncher. But he also has one of the most devastating left hooks in the sport. They both have shown excellent chins.
“Shawn’s style is exactly what I like to go up against. I want him to come forward and walk into my counter punching,” Garcia said. “I have power in both hands and I’m going to make him feel it. If he comes and opens up, I’m going to land a clean shot early. If he can’t recover, then I’m going to have a chance to finish him. I know he’s going to try to jab his way in. Shorter guys like him tend to go to the body too. He has skills but I’ve had great preparation to be ready for any of it. We have some stuff up our sleeve.”
Garcia said he has trained to deal with Porter’s propensity for head butting.
“We (had) the right sparring partners, short guys around 5-6 using the head, who come forward,” Garcia said. “So me and my father (trainer Angel Garcia) got the perfect game plan to get away from the head butt. So, yes, we have some tricks for that. So I’m not really worried about his head. I just have to go in there and fight my fight.”
And that fight, he believes, very well could end in a KO.
“I’ve knocked out a lot of fighters for the first time, so it won’t be surprising to me if I knock Shawn Porter out for the first time,” he said. “Shawn had to have some skill to get to this level. It wasn’t all brawling. I’m not taking anything away from him. We’re prepared for the best Shawn Porter.
“In boxing they say the more you throw, the more open you are to get hit. Volume punching has to be effective. I’m the sharper boxer and I land the cleaner punches. That’s more my style.”
Another shot
Porter and Garcia have both ranked among the best welterweights for the past few years and both have won titles. Both ache to win another and have not been shy about saying so.
“It means the world to me to get this belt back,” said Garcia, who lost the same belt to Keith Thurman by decision in a March 2017 unification fight. “This is a new chapter in my career. I’ve been in a lot of great fights. I’m a seasoned champion. This is a chance to regain something that was mine. This is one of the moments where I have to just go out there and prove myself.
“This is a very important fight for me. This fight is an opportunity to prove that I’m still one of the best fighters in the world. I’m coming to get my belt back. I’m incredibly motivated, but I know that sometimes in life if you want something too much, you don’t get it. I’ve achieved a lot in this sport. This will just add more hardware to my collection.”
Porter lost his title by majority decision to Kell Brook in 2014 and when he had another title shot against Thurman in 2016, he lost a razor-close unanimous decision, 115-113 on all three scorecards, in a terrific battle.
“This means the world to me. This is my goal. I’m a goal-oriented person,” Porter said. “I didn’t know when I was going to be fighting for this WBC title. I knew this was my time. This title has so much lineage and history to go along with it and I want to be a part of it.”
Not only would winning the fight net the victor another title but it will position him for big business and insert his name into the conversation for the division’s best along with titleholders Errol Spence Jr., Terence Crawford and Thurman, though Thurman has been inactive for 18 months because of injures.
“The way I’m going to win this fight will change the conversation at welterweight,” Porter said. “You’re going to have to wonder whether Errol Spence Jr. and Terrence Crawford have what it takes to beat me. I’m here to put on a great show, win this title and do it in spectacular fashion.”
By the numbers
-
Garcia: Fourth-ranked welterweight according to ESPN rankings
-
Garcia: Has faced title holders in 11 of his last 15 fights, having gone 10-1 with 4 KO in those fights
-
Garcia: 20 KO in 35 fights (57%)
-
Garcia: Landed 41% of power punches and 32% of total punches in his last 12 fights according to CompuBox
-
Porter: Has lost two of his last six fights after 24-0-1 start
-
Porter: 17 KO in 31 fights (55%)
-
Porter: Fourth consecutive fight at Barclays Center
-
Porter: Lands 34% of power punches and 32% of total punches, according to CompuBox
Thurman rematch?
Porter and Garcia have both lost competitive decisions in world title fights to Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs), and though each would like a rematch neither is preoccupied with one. If it happens, great, they say. If not, so be it.
In June 2016, Thurman took a very close, action-packed unanimous decision to retain his belt against Porter. In March 2017, he faced Garcia in a unification fight and prevailed by split decision, winning 116-112 and 115-113 while one judge scored the fight 115-113 for Garcia.
Thurman was supposed to defend his unified title against Porter, who had become his mandatory challenger. But Thurman’s elbow and hand injuries have kept him idle since beating Garcia. Unable to make his mandatory against Porter in a timely fashion, Thurman vacated one of his belts, which made Saturday’s fight possible.
“I put it out of my mind and again, no disrespect to Keith, but we haven’t seen him. We don’t know what Keith is going to look like when he gets back in the ring and I would hate for Keith to get back in the ring to be any less than what he was the first time we fought,” Porter said. “There’s too many questions and this is why Shawn Porter wins the rematch right now. So I have definitely put the rematch a lot further behind me than it was prior to this fight being announced.”
Said Garcia, who rebounded from the loss to Thurman with a ninth-round knockout of Brandon Rios in February: “He’s out because of me. I was the one who (injured) his elbow, but I just feel like he’s not hungry no more since he unified the division. I think he reached the height in his career that he always wanted to reach.
“I think he’s married now or he’s traveling the world, so his mind is not in the game. So I just don’t think he’s hungry anymore. I think he passed what he wanted to accomplish. I may be wrong but from what I see that’s how it seems to be.”
Spence shadow
If Thurman is out of the picture for the time being, Spence most definitely is not. As big of a fight as Porter-Garcia is, the winner against Spence to unify two belts is even bigger.
It’s a fight Spence (24-0, 21 KOs) has repeatedly said he wants and one Garcia and Porter both say they won’t shy away from if they emerge victorious Saturday.
“I absolutely want to unify with Errol Spence Jr. after I win. I want the biggest fights,” Garcia said. “This would be my fourth world title. All I’ve ever done is face everyone they put in front me and I’ve earned those huge fights.”
Porter said he wants that fight also.
“To me, business makes sense for me to fight Errol Spence,” Porter said. “I’m not a guy who needs an easy fight. I’m in this game to win it all and be classified as one of the top guys. So to me it makes sense to fight Errol Spence.”
Barclays or bust
Garcia, 30, of Philadelphia, and Porter, 30, of Las Vegas, will both feel at home at Barclays Center, which has become essentially their home arena even though neither has New York roots.
Garcia, who spectacularly knocked out Erik Morales in the fourth round of the first main event at Barclays Center in 2012, will be boxing there for the seventh time in his last 12 fights and has scored major victories there, including against Morales, Brooklyn fighters Zab Judah and Paulie Malignaggi, and Lamont Peterson with his lone loss to Thurman also coming there.
“I love Barclays Center. I opened up the building and I was the first world title fighter at Barclays Center,” Garcia said. “When I walk through the streets of Brooklyn everyone knows who I am. I love the atmosphere. I love the people at Barclays Center and it’s my home away from home and I’m excited.”
Porter will be fighting at the arena for the fifth time in his last nine fights, including his fourth fight in a row. Although he also lost to Thurman there, he has big wins there also, including against Devon Alexander to win a world title and Andre Berto in the eliminator that earned him this title shot.
“Brooklyn is like a second home for me. I’m very comfortable here and I’m excited to perform in front of these great fans yet again,” Porter said.
Said Brett Yormark, CEO of BSE Global, which runs the arena: “Both fighters have established a great following in Brooklyn, and (Saturday) will be their biggest moment yet at Barclays Center.”
Rafael’s prediction: Garcia by decision.