Porter embraces every challenge, and Spence might be his biggest one
In an era in which so many boxers are chiefly concerned with preserving their undefeated records, and taking fights they are favored to win, welterweight world titleholder Shawn Porter is an exception.
Porter thrives on challenging himself against the best opponents available, and he will do so once again when he meets the favored Errol Spence Jr. in a 147-pound world title unification bout that headlines a Premier Boxing Champions card on Saturday (Fox PPV, 9 p.m. ET) at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Porter made a career out of taking on tough opponents in fights he wasn’t always supposed to win, and yet, he almost always pulled through. Pushing himself to be great is something his father and trainer, Ken Porter, has instilled in him — and fighting Spence might be his greatest challenge to date.
“It’s how I grew up,” Shawn Porter said. “It’s how my dad raised me, and it’s where I come from. We were never allowed to shy away from any challenge, and that’s the way I’ve lived my life.
“It’s not like taking on, as everyone has coined him, ‘The Boogeyman’ or the best welterweight in the world. To me, I’m taking on another great, exciting fighter, and I’m going to beat that great, exciting fighter.”
Porter, a two-time welterweight world titlist who now lives in Las Vegas, has been going down a hard road since he was a kid. Before boxing, Porter played youth football, and he can trace his mentality in boxing and in life all the way back to those early days, instilled in him as a child growing up in Akron, Ohio, by his father.
“I was 10 years old playing football against guys who were 12 and 13 years old, and it doesn’t sound that big, but back then when you’re 10 going up against preteens, it’s a big deal,” Porter said.
“So even at that young age, my dad has always challenged me and made sure I not only put out my best, but I was going up against the best. And you look up, I’m 31 now and this is 100 percent familiar territory for me, because it’s where I come from.”
Porter’s willingness to take on serious opponents stands out, even in a talent-laden welterweight division. When he faces Spence (25-0, 21 KOs), 29, of DeSoto, Texas, he will be the only top 147-pounder to have fought Spence, Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia, all in their prime.
Porter’s track record certainly matches his mantra of being willing to fight anyone, anytime, anywhere, and it carries all the way back to his start in boxing.
After a standout amateur career, Porter made his professional debut in 2008 as a super middleweight at 165 pounds. He then fought more than a dozen fights as a junior middleweight (154 pounds) over the first two years of his career. In 2010, he moved down again, to welterweight, where he has become one of the best in the division.
Porter (30-2-1, 17 KOs) scored his first notable victory when he outpointed former world title challenger Alfonso Gomez in 2012. After avenging a disputed draw with former world titleholder Julio Diaz in 2013, Porter was ready for a world title shot and the best of the division.
He outclassed Devon Alexander to win his first world title in 2013 and blew away well-known former titlist Paulie Malignaggi in four rounds in his first defense. Kell Brook loomed as Porter’s mandatory challenger and was an opponent few wanted to face. But Porter embraced the obligation in 2014, and he lost for the first time, a majority decision.
Porter’s return from his first defeat was scheduled against rugged and experienced Roberto Garcia in March 2015. What happened the day before the fight made a big impression on TGB Promotions’ Tom Brown, who has promoted many of Porter’s fights, including the bout Saturday with Spence.
Garcia, who was struggling with his weight, did not show up at the weigh-in. The bout had to be scrapped and left Brown and PBC officials scrambling to save Porter’s televised slot.
“Where I really saw it with Shawn the first time was our second PBC show in 2015, when Roberto Garcia pulled out,” Brown said. “We brought another opponent in. There was never any questioning; he was fighting. We brought Erick Bone in, and he was a tough kid. Both Shawn and his father just said, ‘Whoever you get, we’re here to fight.'”
Porter never questioned facing Bone on short notice, and he knocked him out in the fifth round. Three months later, Porter moved on to face Adrien Broner, a former four-division titleholder and another opponent favored to beat him. Despite being knocked down in the 12th round, Porter had done more than enough to win on the scorecards in an upset.
“For me, it was always about embracing the name or the opportunity or the fighter, whatever you may want to call it,” Porter said. “I think, for me coming into the game, the way that I came into the sport and the business being ran the way that it was ran for me, I was always told who I would fight, and there was never really ever a fountain of guys to pick from. They were always, ‘Hey, this is who’s next, this is when, this is where,’ and so that’s how I’ve been bred into this sport.”
The victory over Broner put Porter back in the title picture, and he was rewarded with a high-profile fight against then-undefeated (and favored) titleholder Thurman. In a fight that was ultimately a strong candidate for the 2016 fight of the year, Thurman eked out 115-113 on all three scorecards.
Porter was undeterred. He has won four fights in a row since, none against a soft touch.
He knocked out former two-time world titlist Andre Berto, outpointed notoriously tough Adrian Granados and then scored perhaps his biggest victory in another tremendous battle, a decision over the formidable Garcia to win a vacant welterweight title last September.
Porter’s first title defense, in March, was against yet another top-notch opponent, a mandatory bout against dangerous contender Yordenis Ugas, who has often made opponents look bad. Porter never questioned fighting him or sought to skirt his obligation.
“A lot of different questions were posed to me,” said Porter. “In my mind, he’s the mandatory [challenger]. He’s the guy they told me I had to fight. That’s who I’m going to fight.”
Porter got everything he could handle from Ugas but pulled out a split decision.
That cleared the way for the biggest fight of his career, against Spence — a fighter many consider among the world’s top five, pound-for-pound.
“It’s the biggest challenge of Shawn’s career, but this is why we box. This is why we fight,” Ken Porter said. “Everybody can say what they want [about Spence being favored], but the only thing that matters is fight night. When it’s over with, then we will know. I am looking forward to this. We have a great fight in front of us. This is what it takes to make great fighters. These guys can make each other great. This is for the legacy.”
That pedestal, rather than just the chance to unify belts, is what Shawn Porter said made him want to fight Spence.
“I think it’s specifically Spence, not only because of him having a belt, but who he is and what he’s done in the sport so far,” Porter said. “Being undefeated and, again, being coined as the boogeyman of the division, I’m like, ‘Yo, I need that. I need to beat that guy. I need to fight that guy.’ And so that’s where the hunger really comes from, for me.”