By Allan Fox: Shawn Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) will be challenging the highly evasive WBA World welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) this Saturday night on June 25 on Showtime Boxing from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It’s not enough for the winner of this fight just to get the victory.
They’re going to need to look good in winning. That means if Thurman wins, he can’t be running around the ring for 12 rounds, stinking up the joint with his terrible to watch “circle fighting.” Thurman calls his fighting style, “Circle fight.” I think a lot of boxing fans would call it “boring style,” so hopefully Thurman can stand in the pocket and actually fight on Saturday instead of running from Porter, 28, for 12 rounds.
If Thurman wins by running, he’s going to lose a TON of fans in the process, and wind up getting booed out of the arena. Don’t say I didn’t warn Thurman. If he stubbornly chooses to run like he’s done in past fights, he’s going to wind up hurting himself. What good is it for Thurman to have all the size and power going for him if he’s going to be on his bike running from Porter – or whoever else – for 12 rounds playing hit and run?
Floyd Mayweather Jr. was able to make adjustments to his own boxing style of fighting when he was booed out of the ring in his fight against Carlos Baldomir in their fight in November 2006. If you remember seeing that fight, Mayweather fought just like Thurman in circling the ring endlessly while the crowd booed the running. It was a terrible fight to watch. Instead of being stubborn and resistant to change like we’ve see with Thurman, Mayweather changed his fighting style completely by becoming stationary in his next fight against Oscar De La Hoya in May 2007. In that fight, Mayweather stood right in front of De La Hoya for 12 rounds, using his shoulder roll and pot shots to win the fight by a 12 round decision. Mayweather could have won it easier if he ran around the ring for 12 rounds like he had done against Baldomir, but he would have lost fans in the process. Mayweather was smart to realize that it was important for him to be seen standing in front of his foe fighting him man to man rather than getting on his bike and running for the hills for 12 dull rounds.
Whether Thurman likes it or not, he’s going to need to STOP being a circle fighter and become more of a stationary guy if he wants to become a huge star in the sport. If Thurman is comfortable where he’s at right now and doesn’t want to become a bigger star, then he needs to keep doing his “Circle fighting” for the remainder of his career. I think it would be stupid, but if that’s what Thurman wants to do, then you have to let him steer his own career into the rocks. You can’t take over the Thurman ship to steer on the correct path if he’s resistant to change and doesn’t want to risk his hide standing in front of his opponents like Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao did in their careers. That’s why there are so few super stars in boxing. For a fighter to become a superstar, they have to be willing to take risks by standing in front of their opponents, showing that they’re able to fight in a risky a manner to entertain the fight fans. The circle fighters are a dime a dozen, and they rarely become stars. Thurman is just another one of the circle fighters that will likely to continue to fight in that manner of his career.
There’s a great deal of interest in this fight from the fans around the world, because some of them believe the winner of this bout will be crowned the new 147lb king of the division. I’m not sure if you can call the winner of the Thurman-Porter fight as the No.1 guy at welterweight, because there are four of five other top welterweights that they’ll need to beat before they can be considered the top dog at 147. However, at least the Thurman-Porter fight will weed out one pretender and limit the choices for the top spot. The winner of the Thurman vs. Porter fight will still need to prove themselves against Errol Spence Jr., Tim Bradley, Danny Garcia, Amir Khan, and Jessie Vargas.
I think Porter has a very good chance of winning this fight on Saturday night if he can cut off the ring and force Thurman to fight. It might prove to be very difficult for Porter to get “One Time” to fight, because he’s already said he plans on using Kell Brook’s game plan that he used against Porter in their fight in 2014. Brook held frequently in that fight, and moved constantly to keep from getting hit. The fight was like watching paint dry in the hot sun. It was very boring and not the kind of a fight that you’d see from a super star. Brook isn’t a super star, and probably will never be a super star with the way he fights.
If Porter can cut off the ring to get to Thurman, he pull him out of his oyster shell and destroy him with body and head shots. Thurman was hurt to the body in his last fight against Luis Collazo last July, so that might be an area that Porter can go after on Saturday night. Thurman has also shown to have a weak chin, as he’s been hurt in the past by guys like Diego Chaves, Jesus Soto Karass and even Robert Guerrero.
Thurman does not take shots nearly as gives them. He’s vulnerable to getting hurt, because he doesn’t have a great chin and his defense is not rock solid when he stands in front of his opponents. Thurman’s defense is his running. He runs and that enables him to keep from getting hit. However, when he stops running and comes forward to land shots, he’s vulnerable. Thurman has a bad habit of throwing wide hooks, which leaves his head wide open for straight shots down the middle. Thurman also lowers his head and takes his eyes off his opponents when he throws his wide hooks. He’s got a lot of bad habits that could sink his ship in this fight.