https://ringmagazine.com/en/news/the-best-i-faced-shawn-porter Popped up on my newsfeed Most fighters seem to bull**** these and give answers that flatter themselves. He praised the guys that beat him and didn't make excuses. Always was a fan of his
I hate to say this but one thing that annoys me about Porter is how he tries to come off as though he was some highly intelligent boxer. Porter was a guy who had a rugged come forward style who would smother his own work when he got on the inside. His head always stayed on the centerline when he attacked which left him open for counters. But listening to him talk, he tried to sell himself as a complete fighter lol. Outside of that, it was a good read. I’m surprised he didn’t mention Thurman for power considering he buckled Porter a couple of times and made him hold.
Not a bad read. He has a very high opinion of himself. At least he picked people who beat him in categories. Normally they pick the toughest fighters as ones they beat to praise themselves
That is a GREAT breakdown from the only perspective that we can get from an individual who's been in the ring vs these guys. It's easy for their peers and/or fans who've never competed against these fighters to say who is better at what based on us watching them for 12 rounds. But Porter is speaking from his experience of punching and getting punched by them. And he's honest about what he experienced. I love it. Porter, overall, is a great individual. I met him once as an amateur, and then again after he retired. We crossed paths in Omaha, NE during the parade that the city gave to Terence Crawford after becoming a 2x Undisputed champion with his win over Errol Spence Jr. He and his podcast partner (I forget his name) conversed with me briefly about multiple subjects, not just boxing. He's a stand up guy. Very geniune.
Agree. I did find it out odd that he mentioned that Crawford was the only fighter that he couldn't out think as if he outboxed Thurman, Brooke, or even Danny and Spence. Porter's work rate and stamina was his biggest weapon. Many of the things he did in the ring you wouldn't train your fighter to do at all, let alone consistently. But it was a good read. And you are right about Thurman as far as power. Especially being that Porter is on record for saying that Thurman is probably the hardest puncher he's ever been in the ring with. He said this in an interview leading up to the Crawford fight.
He and his dad also said he didn't train hard for the crawford fight but yet he wore, "war" tribute to Marvin hagler into the ring. Either he and his dad were lying or they just disrespectful. I lean toward liars.
Says Crawford was the best guy he's ever been in the ring with, even mentioned his Usyk fight when saying so. I was hoping the interviewer would have asked him about 2009 Pacquiao he sparred vs Crawford he fought. That would have been amazing.
I don't see it as them being disrespectful and/or liars. I saw that as them trying to save face for such a horrible attempt at trying to accomplish something big. Those who pay attention knew that Shawn Porter for that entire year leading up to the Crawford fight, was consistently on social media and posting videos of him training, running up hills, doing combinations in their backyard workout facility, etc...... Porter was made the WBO mandatory following Vergil Ortiz's refusal to exercise his mandatory status and/or accept a Crawford fight. Vergil was the mandatory for 2 years. When the WBO replaced Ortiz with Porter, Shawn had been on his podcast talking about possible opportunities of him getting a rematch vs Spence, Thurman, Ugas or even moving up to middleweight. So the notion that people were suggesting that "Porter was thinking about retiring anyway" in order to discredit Crawford's victory made zero sense. Because at no point leading up to that fight did ANYONE discuss or ask Porter anything about if this would be his last fight. The videos of Porter working out that year are still on YouTube.... Here's a video that was made an entire month before the WBO mandated the Crawford fight: SHAWN PORTER TRAINING FOR TERENCE CRAWFORD FIRST LOOK; ALREADY PUSHING IT TO THE LIMIT FOR SHOWDOWN If you look in the comments you'd notice no one is hinting to this being his last ride. Many were suggesting that Porter was going to give the upset. Porter has always trained hard. Hardwork was never his issue. His issue was the training that he partook in. The technique that was taught to him by his father. HIs style wasn't universally dangerous. It was easy to plan against vs IQ fighters like Crawford. Porter's Dad claiming that they didn't get an adequate camp to prepare for Crawford was B.S. because they had damn near an entire year of them claiming they were preparing for Crawford before actually going into camp for Crawford. Coming up short was nothing new to Porter as he's lost to every elite he's faced at welterweight. It's just the fact that they GUARANTEED not only a victory, but a stoppage. Doubled down on it the week of the fight just before all the press conferences and they had to sit just a few feet away from each other. All that only for them to get the first and only stoppage lost of Porter's career. Crawford's presence KO'ed the confidence of Porter and his dad. You can see it in the way they answered the questions at the press conference vs the way they were talking about what they planned on doing before being in front of him. TERENCE CRAWFORD VS SHAWN PORTER | FULL KICK-OFF PRESS CONFERENCE & FACE OFF VIDEO Their delusion of the Crawford fight before and after the fight was a matter of being able to save face the ultimate failure of the standard they claim they had for themselves and suggesting that Crawford wasn't going to be able to handle it.
The Crawford he fought was 31 y/o and had been boxing 24 years The Usyk he fought had only taken up the sport 4 years earlier compared to Porter having been boxing 15 years at the time
Porter is Crawford’s #1 glazer. I’m so glad he won’t be part of the broadcast team for the upcoming fight.
I'd say he does seem to have a high opinion of himself, but I think the things he says that sound like that are also true.. Ie. saying he has a better boxing IQ than people realize.. He fought at a high level against the best of his era, and a plethora of different styles. Being big for the weight, athletic, and rugged is not enough to compete WELL with the likes of Crawford, Spence, and Thurman (3 exceptional fighters with very different styles and attributes), among others on his resume.
I was at the Cotto/Pacquiao welcoming party on a Tuesday where the fighters walk near the hotel lobbyStanding quietly just taking in the whole spectacle, I saw this young brother just taking it all in. He stood out because he wasn’t cheering but he was observing. I took a break to go talk to this young guy and he said he helped train Pacquiao and flew to the Philippines to spar with Manny. It was Shawn Porter.
