Technical profile: Shawn Porter

By Gavin Duthie - 06/25/2015 - Comments

porter6809By Gav Duthie: Shawn Porter pulled himself back into the top end of the welterweight rankings on Saturday by outpointing Adrien Broner. ‘Showtime’ Porter has only lost once by close decision in his career to date to Kell Brook and now boasts an impressive resume. Despite this it seems he isn’t getting a huge amount of credit from certain quarters for his crude style.

So from a technical assessment what makes Porter such an impressive fighter. What are the subtle qualities that Porter possesses which makes him so tough to beat. I’m no Teddy Atlas but here are the 5 main qualities I feel makes Porter a top fighter.

1. Great physical strength

In late 2013 Devon Alexander was supposed to defend his IBF welterweight title against Amir Khan. The Bolton boxer declined the opportunity as to not jeopardize his position to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. In stepped Shawn Porter, Shawn ‘WHO’ was the response by many. He bullied Devon the whole night not allowing him time and space to get his shots off. Porter has good strength in his legs and shoulders and can maneuver his opponents where he wants them.

2. Stays out of range

Finding your range is probably the most important factor in getting your rhythm going as a boxer especially if you use the jab like Adrien Broner. Porter does a good job staying outside of jabbing range and jumps in quickly to get right up to your chest. So he is either too far away or too close. As a result the only time to catch him is when he jumps in which Broner consistently failed to do. The uppercut is the best punch to use in this instance but Broner was constantly missing with left hooks but when he did throw the occasional uppercut he landed.

3. Speed

For an aggressive fighter Porter has excellent speed in both his hands and feet. It is unusual for front foot aggressive fighters to be on their toes the entire fight but this is what allows Porter to jump in without being countered. He reminds me on Floyd Patterson the way he leaps in with jabs and hooks which only great speed allows you to do. Broner’s feet are often wide apart so he didn’t have time to re-set himself which Porter played on. Up close his hand speed is good for landing body shots and stopped Broner fighting in bursts and stealing rounds like he often does.

4. Cutting off the ring

Again attributed to his speed it is very difficult to move off the ropes and change direction against Porter. He was actually running after Broner at times and because he has a good spring on his step he can change direction quickly.

5. Good engine

Porter said post fight that he didn’t fight at the intensity his father/trainer had asked him too. Despite this his pace was still too much from Adrien Broner. He looked like he could have fought at that level for 20 rounds if he needed to. His stamina and conditioning helped after the knockdown also as he never looked shaken and went straight back to boxing which seemed to demoralize Broner somewhat. Anyone who beats him needs to find a way to nullify that intensity which is not easy.



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