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Spence/Porter unification now signed - $75 FOX PPV/Sky Sports
Spence /Porter unification has now been signed for some time in September
https://www.ringnews24.com/2019/06/2...-in-september/
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Spence will win it because he's the more skilled boxer and has more variety but Porter is tough and bring pressure so it'll be a good watch.
I have a sneaky feeling that Spence might stop Porter late as Porter lunges forward and may end up lunging into one shot too many.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Yes I think Porter will struggle to use his usual pressure tactics and physicality against Spence. Spence is a big welter and Porter is not going to outbox him. In the absence of Thurman and Crawford its a decent fight for Spence.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Decent fight and will be a better test for Spence than Garcia. We all still want to see the proper and real unification fight.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Spence will dominate easily making it look as if Sean is done.
he will get cherry picked as a has been, BUT! Will win again!
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Manos de Piedra
Spence will win it because he's the more skilled boxer and has more variety but Porter is tough and bring pressure so it'll be a good watch.
I have a sneaky feeling that Spence might stop Porter late as Porter lunges forward and may end up lunging into one shot too many.
Could turn out to be similar to Floyd vs Hatton.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Nice. Finally someone will fight Spence. I think Spence wins a decision. Porter will get hit a few too many times and then stop bull rushing.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Both guys talked about this after spences last fight. Cant see Porter winning, but he might make it interesting if he really goes for it.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Totally rooting for Spence here. Porter's difficult to watch with all that "Olé" stuff.
Once he dispenses with Porter, the way will be cleared for the other top guys to take a whack.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
What do you mean by Ole? Ive never liked Porter because what he does isnt even boxing, he should be disqualified every time he fights. Probably could have been better as an MMA fighter, and thats not to disparage that sport, just he is a lot better suited for it.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
See I was confused because I assume matador with that analogy;D Did you know that bulls are color blind, so it doesnt matter that the cape is red? If there is anything else you'd like to know, ask someone else.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Manos de Piedra
Spence will win it because he's the more skilled boxer and has more variety but Porter is tough and bring pressure so it'll be a good watch.
I have a sneaky feeling that Spence might stop Porter late as Porter lunges forward and may end up lunging into one shot too many.
Could turn out to be similar to Floyd vs Hatton.
I agree, that's definitely a possibility.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Maybe it's not Crawford v Spence but I'll always give thumbs up to a division unification. Not so sure Porter can avoid getting stuck between styles here because sitting on the outside on his toes like he's been doing lately will see him on the end of some sure fire punishment. He should have bullied and bulldozed with Ugas but instead thought he was a master boxer and was lucky to escape with the W. spence throws honing missiles and adjust degrees on them spectacularly. Thinking the uppercuts and left to the body will prove a very hard night for Porter but props to Porter, he's made attempts to adjust his style in spots and will surely go all in when the water gets rough.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Hate to watch Porter but have to respect him. Big fan of Spence but a little frustrated with the route, it’s understandable, Porter-Thurman/Pacquiao winner-Crawford. All are good fights. Just, as I am always a bit impatient for the great fight.(Crawford)And worried like I was with Wilder/Joshua that one wouldn’t make it to the super fight without losing first as we have seen it so often.(not that losses matter but they further delay the super fight)
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ron Swanson
Hate to watch Porter but have to respect him. Big fan of Spence but a little frustrated with the route, it’s understandable, Porter-Thurman/Pacquiao winner-Crawford. All are good fights. Just, as I am always a bit impatient for the great fight.(Crawford)And worried like I was with Wilder/Joshua that one wouldn’t make it to the super fight without losing first as we have seen it so often.(not that losses matter but they further delay the super fight)
I’ve always said that Crawford vs Spence is the one fight I’m alright letting it marinate a little more. I think both are great and want them to both prove me right before they face each other. Hopefully Arum will be willing to let Crawford fight one of the top welters. Although at this point I’m not sure who would be willing to fight him
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
https://www.boxingnews24.com/2019/08...-cut-up-errol/
"Spence vs. Porter – Shawn threatens to cut up Errol"
Straight out of the horse's mouth. :mad:
Not like Porter isn't bad enough to watch already... now he's fukking bragging about it.
Man if that's the only way he thinks he can win the fight, what can anyone say.....
Personally I'm hoping for a KTFO Spence win even more now than before.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Porter is too tough and rough for Spence to stop but I can see him outclassing Porter and make him look foolish in the fight.
Good on Porter for taking the fight.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
I would answer headbutts with some rabbit punches and elbows of my own. After all..... Porter's already announced his intentions (not that we needed any heads up).
It probably won't happen.... but a highlight reel KTFO would totally satisfy me.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
I would answer headbutts with some rabbit punches and elbows of my own. After all..... Porter's already announced his intentions (not that we needed any heads up).
It probably won't happen.... but a highlight reel KTFO would totally satisfy me.
I agree. Since Porter admitted what he was going for to do, I hope that Spence fights dirty too. I get that certain styles create headbutts, but announcing it like that is just ridiculous.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Could be a failed attempt at mind games, mind you it is Porters only real chance to make it a fight, if he tries to box he’ll get clowned. Dumb to announce those intentions if for no other reason than it might put the ref on notice as well. Technically Porter should be disqualified every other time he fights, if you actually go by the rules.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Spence needs to fight x3 times a year minimum..wasted talent...he needs to make more social media noise and demand these big fights..he should jump a couple of weight classes and do what everyone else is doing..Spence vs GGG anyone?..
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
imp
Spence needs to fight x3 times a year minimum..wasted talent...he needs to make more social media noise and demand these big fights..he should jump a couple of weight classes and do what everyone else is doing..Spence vs GGG anyone?..
Started strong, 3x a year is right. Clean house or go out on your shield. But would hate to see him weight jump, sarcasm?
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ron Swanson
Quote:
Originally Posted by
imp
Spence needs to fight x3 times a year minimum..wasted talent...he needs to make more social media noise and demand these big fights..he should jump a couple of weight classes and do what everyone else is doing..Spence vs GGG anyone?..
Started strong, 3x a year is right. Clean house or go out on your shield. But would hate to see him weight jump, sarcasm?
Yes it was as imp hates fighters jumping up 2 weights to get KTFO.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Bob says Spence/Crawford is in early negotiations for 2020. Makes sense, Thurman/Garcia/Pac-Man will probably not want that action so where does Spence go if they say no...Crawford, gotta cash that ticket. But TR needs to be reasonable, it’s not a 50/50 payout. Spence is the draw
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FUgoJMNugvw
See how easy it is for Bob when it’s in Bobs best interests? No issues with Haymon then. Keep that in mind when it isn’t in Bobs best interest and he claims Haymon is in the way. It’s BS. Garcia/Loma was easy but Bob wouldn’t have it. It’s time for people to call BS when things are BS and put the pressure where it belongs. Media won’t because Bob pulls press credentials but fans need to stop being dopes. Don’t buy the Fenny BS, Al is not the problem, we know who the liar is, same as he ever was, Bob.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ron Swanson
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FUgoJMNugvw
See how easy it is for Bob when it’s in Bobs best interests? No issues with Haymon then. Keep that in mind when it isn’t in Bobs best interest and he claims Haymon is in the way. It’s BS. Garcia/Loma was easy but Bob wouldn’t have it. It’s time for people to call BS when things are BS and put the pressure where it belongs. Media won’t because Bob pulls press credentials but fans need to stop being dopes. Don’t buy the Fenny BS, Al is not the problem, we know who the liar is, same as he ever was, Bob.
You don’t have to convince me. Arum has always been a problem. I’m not saying that the new school promoters are perfect, but they seem better than the likes of King and Arum.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ron Swanson
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FUgoJMNugvw
See how easy it is for Bob when it’s in Bobs best interests? No issues with Haymon then. Keep that in mind when it isn’t in Bobs best interest and he claims Haymon is in the way. It’s BS. Garcia/Loma was easy but Bob wouldn’t have it. It’s time for people to call BS when things are BS and put the pressure where it belongs. Media won’t because Bob pulls press credentials but fans need to stop being dopes. Don’t buy the Fenny BS, Al is not the problem, we know who the liar is, same as he ever was, Bob.
Cute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4p9YFnRSl8
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Shawn Porter, a man of faith who's 'never had a bad day,' plans to exploit Errol Spence Jr.'s flaws
Boxing was a part of Shawn Porter’s life for as long as he can remember. Like many aspiring pros, he sacrificed greatly and gave up things in his life that other kids took for granted.
When he was a senior in high school outside of Akron, Ohio, Porter was scheduled to represent Team USA in a major amateur boxing event in Argentina. The tournament happened to fall at the same time as his school’s prom.
For many, the prom is a coming-of-age moment, but Porter had to skip it. He took the bad news with the grace and aplomb that the WBC welterweight champion is known for as a young adult.
“He’s never had a bad day,” his father, Kenny, said of his perpetually cheerful son. “When he’d move up a grade, his teachers would invariably tell me, ‘I’m going to miss him so much.’ And I’d say, ‘You’re going to miss him? He’s still here; he’s just going two rooms down that way!’ And they’d smile and say, ‘He’s such a nice and pleasant and respectful young man and he’s the type of kid you want to always be around.’”
Shawn Porter wasn’t untoward even when he learned the tournament in Argentina was canceled at the last moment, meaning he’d miss both the tournament and the prom.
Cheerful Porter confident ahead of Spence fight
Fortune has a way of smiling on guys like Porter, who is cheerful and optimistic only days away from the greatest challenge of his professional career when he meets IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. on Saturday (9 p.m. ET, PPV) at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The unbeaten Spence is a budding superstar and a massive -1000 favorite to defeat Porter.
Porter chuckles at the odds, just as he’s laughed off most of the problems life has presented. Whether it’s having to sit out more than a full year in a contract dispute and struggle to make a living as a result or having to accept a loss in a fight he believed deeply he’d won, life has taught this talented and engaging 31-year-old that things almost always work out in the end.
And even with his boxing tournament in Argentina canceled at the last moment and all of the girls in his school committed to other dates for the prom, it managed to work out for Porter.
“The principal, the counselor and someone else [who worked for the school] all offered their daughters [for Porter to take to the prom],” Kenny Porter recalled, chuckling. “He wound up having two different dates to two different proms and didn’t even know the ladies because he’s got such a rapport with people. He makes people feel comfortable and they feel, ‘You know, this is someone I’d love to have take my daughter out.’ ”
https://s3.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/z...6-ed2d909be73b
Fighting one of the best opponents in the world — Spence is No. 2 on Yahoo Sports’ pound-for-pound list — is vastly different than lining up a late date for the senior prom, but just like when he was in school, Porter has plenty of faith that things will work out.
Spence has 2½ inches of height and three inches of reach on Porter, who has long been used to being the shorter man. His pressuring, attacking style has been built to take advantage of the physical gifts he owns and to minimize those he’s without.
When he was in high school, he was fighting in the amateurs at 165 pounds because he was playing football as well, and needed the bulk. There was never a thought that he’d be a football player long-term, but he wanted the balance in his life that football brought.
But keeping those extra 20 or 25 pounds on meant he wound up fighting much bigger guys. When he was an amateur, he boxed Oleksandr Usyk, the 2018 Yahoo Sports Fighter of the Year who won the undisputed cruiserweight title last year and next month will make his heavyweight debut against Tyrone Spong.
Usyk, who at 6-3 is eight inches taller than the 5-7 Porter, is only one of the much bigger men Porter has fought. In the amateurs, he’s also fought Daniel Jacobs, who had a pro middleweight title and is now competing as a super middleweight; as well as cruiserweights Shawn Estrada and Edwin Rodriguez, among others.
Kenny Porter said he believes Spence is one of the top three pound-for-pound boxers in the world, and the No. 1 welterweight. His son, though, shrugs it off.
He’s made for moments like this and he can draw on the experience of fighting much bigger men — much taller with a bigger reach and a harder punch — than Spence.
How Porter has adapted his natural boxing ability
Porter is like the proverbial crafty lefty in baseball who gets more than his share of strikeouts despite a below-average fastball. The pitcher instead relies on cunning, guile and smarts to set hitters up.
Porter is a menace physically and uses his strength and quickness to put himself into positions where he can punch and his opponents’ opportunity to do so is lessened. A fighter with a long reach needs room to let his hands go and Porter is an expert at eliminating that room.
“I’ve dealt with it all my life,” Porter said. “You come into this sport and you take what God has given you and you figure out what you have and make it work for yourself. I have a great understanding of range and distance. My speed and my quickness makes up for what I like in terms of range, like some taller fighters. … But all the way around, I think there are things folks are missing when they look at this fight. Errol is deserving of all of the things that people are saying about him, how good he is and how talented he is, but I think sometimes they may be getting so caught up in what he’s able to do that they’re not able to see the areas where he can be exploited. I see those things.”
He also sees the world around him in a way others don’t. He’s a religious young man who is in church three or four days a week and is involved in many of his church’s activities.
He’s an usher and he’s among those who is eager to help the less fortunate. His father said he’ll often call his son to get ready to go do his roadwork, the staple of any elite boxer, but gets put off.
“He’ll tell me, ‘I’m at church; let me get done with what I’m doing here and then we’ll get out there,’ ” Kenny Porter said. “He’s in church all the time, at least three days a week. I’m in church once a week and then I’m praying the rest of the time, but Shawn is different. He has that spirituality about him.”
https://s3.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/7...d-c653aacd3da2
Spirituality will only go so far when a slick boxer with a heavy punch like Spence is attacking. Porter has taken his natural physical gifts and adapted them to make himself the best version of a 5-7 welterweight he can be.
He’s at home in the ring and has a commanding presence in there that is much different from the easy-going nice-guy vibe he gives off outside the ring.
His father will encourage him to create a “thunderstorm,” in the ring, making him a relentless blur of punches and movement.
“I’m a product of both natural God-given ability and a tremendous amount of hard work,” Porter said. “You’ve seen me with a blindfold on in the ring, and that’s enabled me to know where I am in there at all times. Things like judging the distance and the speed of another guy, the power he has, being able to read him and see what he wants to do and what he’s going to do, those are things you can’t really teach. In a lot of ways, you could say I’m a natural.
“But I also took what I had and learned how to make it most effective. I put in the work to adapt my talents for this sport and for the things I need to do in there.”
So he’ll go into the fight Saturday as a major underdog, but also serene, calm and fully confident of victory. Experience has taught him there are no mountains he can’t climb and that if he plumbs the depths, everything from that moment is pointing up.
He’s the most optimistic member of the optimists’ club.
“I believe in myself and the work my father and I have done together, not just in this camp but along the entire way getting to this point,” Porter said. “Everybody has an opinion and that’s OK. But the people who think I’m in over my head, they haven’t been with me on this journey and they haven’t seen what I’ve had to overcome to get here. I know full well what I’ve done and that’s why I know I’m going to do this on Saturday night.”
https://uk.yahoo.com/sports/news/sha...181319923.html
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
More convinced Porters best shot is to revert a bit and get back to what got him here. If he tries to float on his toes and use his 'new boxing' similar to Ugas fight he is going to get caught ugly. Strongest most physical guy Spence has faced, use it. Dirrell thinks he's going to knockout Benavidez :-X..now that's bold. I don't doubt he'll catch him with shots he's never seen..he'll try..but unless Benavidez has been back partying hard and shoving stuff up his nose I think this is a ticket to hurtville for Dirrell.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Porters only chance is to make it rough. He will get shut out if he tries to box. He will get knocked out most likely if he tries to brawl, but at least he gives himself a small chance
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Good thing Tim Bradley's retired. A fight between Porter and Bradley would've been like watching two bighorn rams fighting over a sheep.
Spence will probably end up with a cut or two, especially since Porter has already announced his intentions of headbutting. I hope the ref is on his toes for this one.
Spence by ugly decision, although I'd prefer a KTFO.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
porter has faced good opponents but was lucky against ugas. porter is a good name for spence to have on his record. shawn will try to keep it competiive but i see a wide decision to spence.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
I haven't seen a single person pick Porter to win, for obvious reasons, it's basically a mismatch with fans/oddsmakers. However, it's a worthwhile fight as Porter is a name, even though he has no fans.
What does everyone think the PPV will do? 150-250k? Less or more?
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed - $75 FOX PPV/Sky Sports
What happened to the Al Haymon/PBC/ITV deal? This is their second biggest fight of the year behind Pac-Thurman, which was ITV PPV, yet Sky/Eddie poached this one. :D
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fenster
I haven't seen a single person pick Porter to win, for obvious reasons, it's basically a mismatch with fans/oddsmakers. However, it's a worthwhile fight as Porter is a name, even though he has no fans.
What does everyone think the PPV will do? 150-250k? Less or more?
It’s one of those fights where Spence has to continue to prove that he is the top fighter at welterweight. Even though everyone is picking Spence to win, it’s part of the cleaning out the weight process.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fenster
I haven't seen a single person pick Porter to win, for obvious reasons, it's basically a mismatch with fans/oddsmakers. However, it's a worthwhile fight as Porter is a name, even though he has no fans.
What does everyone think the PPV will do? 150-250k? Less or more?
There's actually a few picks for porter to grind one out.(https://fightnews.com/surprising-spe...dictions/55701)
Manny Pacquiao: Spence W 12
Deontay Wilder: Spence UD 12
Andy Ruiz Jr: Porter SD 12
Gary Russell Jr: Porter SD 12
Thomas Hearns: Spence MD 12
Abner Mares: Porter SD 12
Mikey Garcia: Spence W 12
Keith Thurman: Spence W 12 / TKO
Angel Garcia: Porter W 12
Julian Williams: Spence W 12
Yordenis Ugas: Porter W 12
Evander Holyfield: Spence MD 12
Robert Guerrero: Porter SD 12
Erickson Lubin: Spence UD 12
Tony Harrison: Spence W 12
Jose Benavidez Sr: Porter SD 12
Paulie Malignaggi: Spence Late-TKO
Robert Easter Jr: Spence W 12
Ruben Guerrero: Porter W 12
Sergey Lipinets: Spence W 12
Robert Garcia: Spence W 12
Austin Trout: Porter SD 12
Caleb Truax: Spence UD 12
Sergio Mora: Porter W 12
Andre Berto: Spence W 12
I'm still not sold on Spence for a few reasons. I think most people picking porter are doing so as maybe wishful thinking in that the little guy that works hard beats the big guy that hasn't had great competition but is being crowned the heir apparent. I cant see Spence losing a decisions. At least not to Porter. Its a tall order, but what the hell, I'll root for Porter's application over Spence's potential. Maybe Spence will make a believer out of me.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
J_Undisputed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fenster
I haven't seen a single person pick Porter to win, for obvious reasons, it's basically a mismatch with fans/oddsmakers. However, it's a worthwhile fight as Porter is a name, even though he has no fans.
What does everyone think the PPV will do? 150-250k? Less or more?
There's actually a few picks for porter to grind one out.(
https://fightnews.com/surprising-spe...dictions/55701)
Manny Pacquiao: Spence W 12
Deontay Wilder: Spence UD 12
Andy Ruiz Jr: Porter SD 12
Gary Russell Jr: Porter SD 12
Thomas Hearns: Spence MD 12
Abner Mares: Porter SD 12
Mikey Garcia: Spence W 12
Keith Thurman: Spence W 12 / TKO
Angel Garcia: Porter W 12
Julian Williams: Spence W 12
Yordenis Ugas: Porter W 12
Evander Holyfield: Spence MD 12
Robert Guerrero: Porter SD 12
Erickson Lubin: Spence UD 12
Tony Harrison: Spence W 12
Jose Benavidez Sr: Porter SD 12
Paulie Malignaggi: Spence Late-TKO
Robert Easter Jr: Spence W 12
Ruben Guerrero: Porter W 12
Sergey Lipinets: Spence W 12
Robert Garcia: Spence W 12
Austin Trout: Porter SD 12
Caleb Truax: Spence UD 12
Sergio Mora: Porter W 12
Andre Berto: Spence W 12
I'm still not sold on Spence for a few reasons. I think most people picking porter are doing so as maybe wishful thinking in that the little guy that works hard beats the big guy that hasn't had great competition but is being crowned the heir apparent. I cant see Spence losing a decisions. At least not to Porter. Its a tall order, but what the hell, I'll root for Porter's application over Spence's potential. Maybe Spence will make a believer out of me.
Spence’s biggest issue is that same issue as all good offensive fighters. You have to take big shots to give big shots. His weakness I think will be someone who is tough that can take a good punch and deliver them back. Maybe someone like Maidana.
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed - $75 FOX PPV/Sky Sports
Winner of Spence vs. Porter still has a long way to go to make welterweight history
Perhaps the only thing rarer in professional sports than a welterweight title unification bout is a clever one-liner at a pre-game news conference.
On Saturday at Staples Center, unbeaten IBF champion Errol Spence Jr. and WBC champion Shawn Porter will meet in just the 11th unification in the division’s long and glorious history.
Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, the 1980s brawler from Youngstown, Ohio, who slugged his way into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, was speaking as frenetically as he used to punch about the bout.
“Oh man, I just love the fight,” Mancini, a part of the Fox Sports broadcast team for the fight, said. “Errol is so skilled. He’s on top of his game. But you can’t sleep on Shawn. No way. Shawn’s got that style that’s going to make it difficult on Errol. That’s why this is such a great fight.”
The bout is reminiscent in some ways of the 1980 classic between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran, in which Leonard was perceived to be the elite and skillful boxer and Duran the aggressive, pressuring in-fighter.
Duran was able to lure Leonard into a gritty, down-and-dirty fight, much like Porter will try to execute against Spence.
“People know what to expect from Shawn,” his father/trainer, Kenny Porter, said. “He’s going to be there in front of Errol for three minutes a round for all 12 rounds.”
Porter’s style is by now so familiar that a number of experts threw out the same long-time boxing adage, “Pressure breaks pipes,” as a way of explaining how Porter can win the bout.
Spence, who from his earliest days as a pro has been compared to Leonard, isn’t buying it. He scoffed at the notion that Porter’s pressure will break him, or is even somehow effective.
“You fight like you drowning, and you can’t swim,” Spence said in the burn of the day to Porter.
The good-natured Porter laughed, but he had plenty of digs of his own. Spence is coming off a 12-round rout of Mikey Garcia in March in which he swept all 12 rounds.
Garcia was moving up in weight and never was able to seriously threaten Spence. Porter is an inch taller with an inch more reach than Garcia, but he’s a natural welterweight and a bull of a man. Porter is a physical specimen who Spence won’t be able to manhandle.
“He said he’s going to knock me out and he wants to hurt me and so on and so forth,” Porter said. “Well, he didn’t knock out 135-[pound] Mikey Garcia. If he couldn’t knock out 135 Mikey Garcia he ain’t knocking out 147-pound ‘Showtime’ Shawn Porter.”
https://s.yimg.com/it/api/res/1.2/V8...a-98ab1f6cd8f9
Spence is a good finisher and has an 84-percent knockout ratio, winning 21 of his 25 bouts by KO or TKO. But he’s just now developing into a puncher. For much of his career, his knockouts came either against overmatched opponents or by sheer volume and punching accuracy. He’s such a sharp and precise puncher that he wears guys down as the fight progresses until they succumb and can’t take it any longer.
His trainer, Derrick James, believes the day is coming when Spence will be regarded as a knockout artist. Spence’s footwork is brilliant and he’s able to quickly get into position to throw punches, and his speed is above-average.
James, though, isn’t pushing Spence to finish Porter. A finish will come, he said, if Spence executes the things they worked on during camp.
“A finish is great, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not what my focus is,” James said. “There are things Porter does we feel we can take advantage of and I want Errol to do that. We have a pretty good understanding of Porter and what he likes to do and we’re ready for those things. Errol doesn’t have to go out there looking to knock him out. He just has to stick with the plan and do what we laid out and a knockout could come.”
Former welterweight champion Keith Thurman, who is working as an analyst for Fox Sports on the show, defeated Porter in a classic 2016 battle. He said Porter’s style is difficult and won’t be easy for Spence to figure out. But he said Porter will have to take risks to defeat Spence.
Thurman noted that Garcia didn’t take those risks in Dallas in March and was never in the fight. Spence fought basically on autopilot and kept Garcia at the end of his jab. Porter can’t win a fight with that mindset, Thurman said.
“I feel the less risk he takes, the more he puts Errol in the fight,” Thurman told Yahoo Sports. “He’s got to be that raging bull as much as he can and try to dog it out. Shawn’s the guy with 100 percent grit and he can’t afford just to fight at Errol’s pace.”
No matter who the winner will be, the facts of modern boxing mean that this 11th unification bout in welterweight history won’t decide all that much. Because after this, the winner will need to contend with WBA champion Manny Pacquiao and WBO champ Terence Crawford.
Spence never seems all that eager to fight Crawford, though he said several times this week that he expects the Crawford fight to happen sometime next year. If he wins, he’s eager for a shot at Pacquiao.
Pacquiao, though, isn’t so intent on a shot at him any time in the near future. Sean Gibbons, the president of Pacquiao’s MP Promotions, told Yahoo Sports that he suspected his next fight would come early next year against either Mikey Garcia or Danny Garcia. If Porter wins, “that’d be a nice fight.” Of Spence, all Gibbons would say is, “You know the Senator; he’s never ducked anyone and he’s certainly not afraid of Spence.”
But now, all that matters is whether or not Porter is afraid of him, and whether he is up for the challenge.
He said those who expect the bout to be a coronation of sorts for Spence are in for a disappointment.
“All my life, there have been critics telling me what I can’t do,” said Porter, who is making a name for himself as a boxing analyst on TV. “They tell me this guy is too big or that guy’s too good or this other guy is too smart or too fast, but here I am, the WBC champion of the world and on top of my game. If I listened to all of those people who doubted me along the way, who said in the amateurs I didn’t belong in there fighting Oleksandr Usyk until I went out there and beat him, I’d have quit a long time ago.
“But I believed in myself and I believed in my father and everything we have done together. It’s brought us together to this point where I think we’re about to open a lot of, lot of eyes and shock a lot of people.”
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Re: Spence/Porter unification now signed - $75 FOX PPV/Sky Sports
Porters need to make Spence uncomfortable. Close, intelligent attack. Without suffocating his work. If he tries to box Spence, he is taken over. Spence will control distance and clearly win the judge's decision. The fight between Mario Barrios and Batiru Ahmedov is very intriguing