By Dan Ambrose: It appears that the June 25th fight between WBA World welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) and challenger Shawn Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, according to Dan Rafael.
It’s still not official for the Barclays Center, but it’s in the works. This is a change from the previous venue that was mentioned for the Thurman-Porter fight before it was postponed due to Thurman’s automobile accident.
The Thurman vs. Porter fight was previously scheduled for March 12 at the Mohegan Sun Casino, in Uncasville, Connecticut. Thurman’s whiplash injury from his car accident caused the fight to be put up until June 25th. Even that date is still tentative and depends on how Thurman heals up. The Thurman-Porter fight will be televised on Showtime Championship Boxing.
“Not 100% yet but looks like #ThurmanPorter on June 25 will be at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. #boxing @ Keith Thurman @ShowtimeShawnP,” said Rafael on his Twitter.
The real negative about the fight is that there’s no way of knowing whether Thurman will turn up on June 25th due to his injury. With his whiplash problem, it might result in the fight being postponed further into the future, and it could go on and on for ages while he slowly heals.
It’s a bad thing potentially for boxing fans, but it’s especially bad for Porter, because he’s already been out of the ring since last June. That was when Porter beat Broner. After that fight, Porter was waiting for ages to see what fight his management could scrape up for him. When they finally were able to get the Thurman fight after what seemed like forever, it looked like it was going to be a great fight. But then we had the car accident that wiped out the March 12th fight, and now we’re not even sure if Thurman will be able to go or not for June 25. They’re scheduling for that date, but if Thurman’s back and neck still aren’t healed, then it could very well cause that date to be pushed back for later in the year.
Porter might want to setup a drop dead date for the Thurman fight where he moves on if Thurman is still having problems. Porter can’t have his entire career brought to a screeching halt due to Thurman being put out of commission due to a car accident. In three months, Porter will have been out of the ring for an entire year. If Thurman still isn’t ready to go at that time, then Porter could be on his way to sitting out of the ring for more than a year.Thurman’s accident might as well have been Porter’s accident because the way that it impacts his career as well. If Porter isn’t careful, he’s going to grow old waiting for Thurman to heal up and finally be ready. What would be really sad is if Porter moves on and fights someone else, and then Thurman suddenly heals up and wants to fight.
Also on the Thurman-Porter card is former three division world champion Abner Mares facing WBA featherweight champion Jesus Cuellar.
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