By Sean Jones: Shawn Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) cemented a spot potentially to face the winner of the Errol Spence Jr vs. Danny Garcia winner by defeating Sebastian Formella (22-1, 10 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision in an IBF 147-lb title eliminator match last Saturday night at the Microsoft Theater, in Los Angeles, California.
While many fans would prefer to see the Spence-Garcia winner face Manny Pacquiao or Terence Crawford, Porter might be as good as it gets. Putting together fights involving Spence and Pacquiao or Crawford could difficult if not impossible.
It won’t be a problem for the Spence-Garcia winner to put a rematch together with Porter, and it might be entertaining.
Formella was no match for Shawn
Porter, 32, had little trouble in dominating the light-hitting German fighter Formella, who had nothing to keep him off of him. Shawn used a combination of power punching and boxing to win a lopsided decision by the scores 120-108 x 3.
It could have been worse if Porter had more interested in scoring a knockout, but he was content to try different game plans on the 33-year-old Formella.
The victory for Porter puts him in an excellent position to take on the winner of the Spence vs. Garcia fight, which will be taking place on November 21 on Fox Sports pay-per-view.
Porter beat Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision on September 8, 2018, to win the vacant World Boxing Council welterweight title. The scores were 116-112, 115-113, and 115-113.
After defeating Yordenis Ugas by a highly question 12 round decision a year ago in March 2019, Porter lost his WBC belt to Spence by a 12 round split decision last September.
Porter to make adjustments
Most boxing fans would agree that if Porter could punch, he would have had an excellent chance of winning, but Spence was the much harder puncher of the two, and he wore Shawn down with his body shots in the last half of the fight.
“There’s really no telling,” said Porter when asked of Danny Garcia, and Errol Spence Jr would see a different version of himself in a rematch with him. “I think both guys can make adjustments against me. I think that’s the best part about a rematch.
“You’ve been in the ring with them, and not only that. The crowd has already seen one thing, and as soon as they see adjustments to who makes those adjustments, I think it makes a great fight.
“I definitely think I’ll be a little different in both fights,” said Porter on him being different against Spence or Danny Garcia. “No telling yet, but I can smile and say I’ll be a little bit different in either of those fights,” said Porter.
There’s no reason for Porter to make adjustments in a rematch with Danny Garcia, as he did an excellent job of mauling him on the inside two years ago. Porter was all over Danny like glue, and he did well in being physical for 12 rounds.
The reason why Formella lasted the distance with Porter is that Shawn boxed him, and didn’t use his standard mauling style of fighting. When Porter tried to box Yordenis Ugas, he got dominated by the Cuban and was lucky to get the win.
Boxing News 24 had Ugas winning ten rounds to 2. It wasn’t even slightly close. Ugas was a much better fighter than Porter, and it was embarrassing how poorly the judges scored the fight.
Formella was interested in surviving
“We work on fast jabs, powerful jabs, and directing the jab,” Porter said. “Today, he [Formella] couldn’t know when a fast one was coming, or the strong one was coming. I was really popping his head back.
“Another game plan was going to the body. We wanted to break him down and slow him down. I tell you one thing. My dad always says, ‘The mind controls everything.’
“I think this kid Formella had in his mind that he was going to take everything that I was giving him, and he just wanted to make it through twelve rounds.
“I think his mind was made up tonight, and his body followed it. We worked on throwing the overhand right in this fight and worked on the power.
“At the beginning of the fight, I wanted to land the overhand right. That was something we worked on. That’s something that my dad always says. ‘What we work on, it’s got to show up in the ring on fight night.
“So that was something that I was really keyed on. We made an adjustment in the corner. My dad said, ‘stick with the speed because the speed is going to set up the power’ You know that when you throw a looping punch,
“It’s more of a power punch, and the speed is more of a straight punch. So that’s what I started to go with, and I started to go with a straight right to the body—those connected really well too,” said Porter.
It would be a mistake for Porter to tinker with success and try and box Garcia from the outside, as that would give him the room to land his shots. Porter is a decent boxer, but he’s nothing special in that department.
Shawn did his research
“We got a lot of film on this kid [Formella],” said Shawn. “We knew people in Germany and got connections over here that we’re able to get us some film. I knew it was the feet, and when it wasn’t the feet, he would be covering up.
“One adjustment that I had to make tonight, I could tell that his corner was telling him to punch with me or punch right after me.
“I think he did connect with some punches because I would punch and leave my hand there, or I would punch and not be ready for his counter.
“I had to get on another rhythm with this kid to punch and slip right after, and then come back with another counter. My dad calls that ‘fast chess.’ So he was able to play some chess tonight. He did well.
“The game plan was for subtlety, to look for the shots, and to look for the openings when we had them,” said Porter on his win over Formella last Saturday.
“We wanted to be aggressive but not too aggressive because we knew he would run. We worked on cutting off the ring in camp and cutting off the ring in the backyard. I think it all worked out. For me, it made sense.
“My dad didn’t call or that tonight in those moments where I got on my toes. It made sense. A lot of guys don’t know when I’m coming and going, and it really mixed things up with Fomella. That’s why I went with it,” said Shawn Porter.
It wasn’t a big deal for Porter to figure out how to defeat Formella, as his fighting style is simplistic to the extreme. Porter can pat himself on the back now, but the reality is, Formella is a just fundamental boxer, who moves around a lot, and has zero power.
The fight was won for Porter the moment the contracts were signed for this mismatch.
Porter got hit a lot
“We didn’t do anything less than what we’ve done t prepare for any other fighter,” said Porter. “Just because this kid wasn’t known over here, it doesn’t mean we were going to do anything less.
“We came into the ring, feeling strong. I think that was a problem for me. Early on, when he touched me, and I thought that they were nothing, I guess I got in my mind that I’m going to walk through everything.
“I think he touched me a lot more than I wanted him to, and I wasn’t entirely as responsible on defense as I usually would be.
“That’s my fault, but that’s the only knock I have in this fight that I wasn’t quite as sharp defensively, but overall, I think I wanted to remain in control, and I didn’t want to chase him. I wanted to cut off the ring. I think everything we did in camp showed up,” said Porter.
A lot of right hands hit porter from the outside by Formella, and those shots would have been damaging ones if it had been Spence or Garcia that threw them.
In the 7th round, Porter landed a nice left hook that appeared to hurt Formella. The punch landed just as the bell sounded, which prevented Porter from capitalizing on the situation.