Shawn Porter already back in training

By Boxing News - 10/15/2019 - Comments

By Allan Fox: Three weeks after his loss to IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. in a grueling unification battle on September 28, former WBC champ Shawn Porter has already started training for his next fight. Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs) would like a rematch with Spence (26-0, 21 KOs), but that’s going to have to wait.

Spence crashed his Ferrari last week, and he’s recovering from the accident. When Errol does return to the ring, he’s going to be defending against Danny Garcia in early 2020. The target date for the fight is in January, but with Spence being involved in an accident, that fight could get pushed back.

Porter with a lot of options

Shawn hasn’t mentioned anyone besides Manny Pacquiao that he would like to fight. A rematch with Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman would be a great fight for Porter. He lost to Thurman by a 12 round decision in June 2016, and a lot of boxing fans would like to see a rematch.

Porter’s recent 12 round split decision win over Yordenis Ugas last March was controversial, and he would be an ideal opponent for him to fight again. It would be good for Porter to clear up the controversy surrounding his fight with Ugas, because he looked like he should have lost that fight. Ugas did a better job against Porter than Spence did, but they didn’t give him the victory.

Porter, 31, has reasons to be motivated to return to the ring. He came close to beating Spence. The judges gave it to Spence by a 12 round split decision by the scores 116-111, 116-111 for Spence, and 115-112 for Porter. A lot of fans thought Porter did enough to deserve the victory. Spence fought Porter’s fight by battling him in a toe-to-toe fight for 12 rounds, and getting the better of him narrowly with that style.

Spence’s body attack wore Porter down

The body shots that Spence landed throughout the fight played a part in his victory. Porter’s corner complained that he was getting hit low, but the referee didn’t count them due to Shawn having his trunks pulled up so high. Porter had his trunks pulled up in the same way that heavyweight Tyson Fury does. It didn’t work for Porter, as Spence still targeted his body and weakened him. In the 11th, Spence dropped Porter after hurting him with a left hook. Spence got the better of a tired looking Porter in the 12th, and that was enough for him to get the victory.

If Porter is willing to cross the pond, he can face WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford in 2020. Crawford is signed with Top Rank, so it would be a complicated match to make. Porter will likely not bother with Crawford, since he’s in a position to make a lot of money in a rematch with Spence next year. There’s no point in Porter taking a risky fight for potentially less money than what he could make fighting Spence again or Thurman.

The rematch with Spence will likely be a much different fight than the first one. Spence intentionally fought Porter’s style of brawling in order to try and prove a point. What Spence discovered was that it’s not easy to fight in that style, and win against a guy that thrives on brawling. It wasn’t an easy fight for Porter. He took a lot of punishment from Spence, and he was clearly fading at the end from the pressure that was being put on him.

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