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Shawn Porter has no ‘problem’ with Adrien Broner, wins clear decision

Fighters Network
20
Jun
Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

LAS VEGAS – For 11 rounds, “The Battle for Ohio” was anything but a battle as “Showtime” Shawn Porter administered a relatively one-sided pugilism lesson to Adrien Broner with a brilliant mix of boxing and brawling. But a left hook from Broner in the 12th round dropped Porter and finally gave the 8,138 fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena the fight they had been waiting for. However, it was too little, too late as Porter took the unanimous-decision victory with scores of 114-112, 115-111 and 118-109.

The showdown between Ohioans – Porter from Akron and Broner from Cincinnati – was expected to be full of fireworks but Broner appeared to have taken his best shots at Porter earlier in the week at the press conference while Porter saved his big guns for fight night.

It was evident from the opening bell that Porter deployed the better game plan, as he used a relentless body attack and a stiff jab that Broner simply couldn’t adjust to. Broner tried to time each Porter advance with a counter, only to find himself in a clinch and having to deal with Porter’s physical strength and infighting. Broner appeared to be trying to wrangle a bull as he held onto Porter often while Showtime was busy throwing punches and scoring points. Even when the fight took place at a distance, Porter would rifle in a left jab that a flat-footed Broner couldn’t get away from.

It wasn’t always pretty with the clinching and mugging that took place but it was the sheer volume of Shawn Porter that allowed him to take home arguably his biggest win to date.



Ultimately, it was a cautionary tale of how hard work can beat talent. Even though Porter is no slouch athletically, much has been said about Broner’s physical gifts. Unfortunately, The Problem was resigned to throwing one punch at a time while having his midsection shredded by his powerful opponent.

“That’s how you beat a great fighter intelligently,” said Porter (26-1-1). “Coming out we wanted to establish the jab and establish that we were the better boxer. I think we did that over the course of the fight, and tried to stick in some pressure, as well. We established our dominance and that’s what got us those scores that we got and the win.”

The catchweight of 144 didn’t seem to bother Porter one bit. If the plan for Broner was to have Porter shed an extra three pounds under the welterweight limit and hope that his energy would be sapped in the later rounds, that certainly wasn’t the case. In fact, Porter was the more energetic of the two fighters as his constant bounce in his step was prevalent throughout. But let Broner tell it, nothing that Porter put together with this performance shocked him.

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

“Nothing surprised me,” said Broner, who fell to 30-2. “At the end of the day, great champions can take a good loss, just like they take a good win.”

What was interesting was that Broner never truly fought with a sense of urgency throughout the 12-round affair. Even though he kept the antics to a minimum – with a few extra forearms to the face here and a couple over the shoulder punches there that eventually cost him a point in the 11th round – Broner fought the very same fight in the second half that he did in the first.

He didn’t appear to hit an extra gear until the 12th round when he finally slammed a beautiful left hook into Porter’s face and sent him onto the seat of his trunks. Porter was clearly buzzed but kept the pressure on and wouldn’t allow Broner to spoil the 11 rounds he put in.

“Honestly my dad (trainer Kenny) wanted a quicker pace, a faster pace,” Porter said afterward. “I think if I would have listened to him better I would have fought a little bit better. There are things you can learn and things you can build upon.”

With Porter now planting his flag as the best fighter in Ohio, he’ll turn his attention to the future where a possible September showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. may await. If not Mayweather, there’s always the likes of Keith Thurman lurking about. But Porter has made it clear that he wants Mayweather and after beating up his mini-me, perhaps he’ll get the opportunity of a lifetime.

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