By Allan Fox: WBC welterweight champion Shawn Porter (30-2-1, 17 KOs) sparred former WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez in getting ready for his fight next month against IBF 147-lb champion Errol Spence Jr. (25-0, 21 KOs) on September 28.
Is Shawn Porter showing signs of desperation sparring Benavidez?
Porter, 5’7″, wanted a big guy that could approximate the size that he’ll be dealing with inside the ring against the 5’9″ Spence. Picking the 6′1½″ Benavidez is going a bit overboard though, as he’s a lot taller than the southpaw Spence. David fights out of the orthodox stance. Porter resorting to sparring with a huge super middleweight like Benavidez makes him look like he’s stressing out from worry about Spence. Porter should be sparring a junior middleweight like Carlos Adames, Liam Smith or Brian Carlos Castano.
Benavidez is big enough to fight at light heavyweight, but he chooses to campaign at 168. It’s pointless for Porter to be sparring with a guy that size, because he’s way bigger than Spence.
For today’s sparring, Benavidez turned southpaw and applied pressure in the way that the 2012 U.S Olympian Spence will be doing next month.
Just finished 10 rounds of sparring with this guy, @Benavidez300. We’ll both be war-ready on 9/28!!! #SpencePorter #DirrellBenavidez #PBConFOX #ThePorterWay #Blessed pic.twitter.com/e2zUkJAwJ6
— ShowtimeShawn Porter (@ShowtimeShawnP) August 29, 2019
Spence looking forward to capturing WBC title
“This is what I have been waiting for,” said Spence to wbc.com in his fight against WBC champion Porter. “I want to prove that I am the best in the division, and that I am here to defeat anyone in front of me. For now, I am focused on defeating Porter and gaining the WBC title. Then I can think of Manny Pacquiao or in other names in this division.
“I have grown as a fighter over the years. I fight in fabulous arenas, and I head world-class cards. Now I am in a unification fight. It’ a very important for me that I have wanted this for a long time. I know that Shawn will be a complicated rival. I am sure that I can knock him out,” said Spence.
Spence shouldn’t get his hopes up too high about fighting Manny Pacquiao, because that’s not a guaranteed fight. Pacquiao backed out from fighting Spence previously after agreeing to fight him. There’s a good chance that Pacquiao will go in another direction for his next match, and continue to swerve Spence. the fight for Spence is to try and battle Terence Crawford if the match can get negotiated. That’s a big if though, because Crawford is going to want to get the best deal possible before he agrees to the fight.