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By Adam Baskin: Shawn Porter isn’t sure what to do with the WBC ordering IBF/WBA/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence to defend Keith Thurman in his next fight.
The WBC ordered Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) to defend against Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) during Wednesday’s main event in Mexico.
While Porter feels that the 33-year-old former WBA / WBC 147-lb champion Thurman is a good replacement for Terence Crawford, he feels that it depends on whether he still has it.
Porter is not disrespecting all the bad work Thurman has had in the last five years since his fight with Danny Garcia in 2017. Thurman has made good money and has fought just three times since this fall.
Injuries have played a role in some of Thurman’s inactivity, but you could argue that he hasn’t shown the same hunger he once did after making good money.
Some fighters don’t lose their ambitions after being lured by wealth, while others become lazy and fat and fall off the map, ruining their careers by being diligent.
Unfortunately, Thurman doesn’t show the same ambition he once had, and appears to be more focused on trying to get big money fights instead of working hard in his day job like other fighters.
“I think my heart wants to say it’s a really good way. I think it all depends on the final stage of his career,” said Shawn Porter to Fighthype in response to Errol Spence Jr vs. Keith Thurman’s fight was ordered by the WBC today at their meeting.
“I know from experience and seeing other fighters over time that the energy and everything you give to boxing early and in the middle of your career is different than it is at the end of your career.
“I think there’s definitely things that Thurman can do that can take away from the great abilities that Errol Spence has. Errol Spence is a great fighter. A good one can beat a great one. Once upon a time, Keith was great. So the question here is, is it? [still] with him in it?
“An honest answer from me based on his [Thurman] the last fight, far from the lip to the cup. “It looks like he has a lot of work to do to get back to being the professional athlete that Keith Thurman is,” Porter said of former champion Thurman.
The good news is that Thurman excelled in his last fight against Mario Barrios last February, beating him by a 12th round decision and looking like the man he used to be.
The bad news is that Thurman was coming off a nearly three-year layoff when he fought Barrios. Again, it’s another example of Thurman being ruthless and not showing the same gung-ho attitude he once had to get off the couch and stand with a self-indulgent hubris.
“Obviously, on the other side of that, you have Errol Spence Jr, who’s been through a lot,” Porter said. “Everything he’s been through has helped him, and one thing I’ve learned about Errol is that sometimes men are born into boxing.
“Boxing takes you; you have no boxing. I think it’s a great fight. I think the ad will be very good,” said Porter about Spence vs. Thurman. “Here’s what I know. Keith will have a good talk aboutand I want him to get in the ring and give it back.
“If he supports that, we’ve had an amazing fight. It’s not a situation of ‘We don’t want to see Terence again because we had a great fight.’ We still want to see that, but this could definitely be a big fight that you don’t expect, but you’re going to get it anyway.
“From what I’ve seen of Errol, he comes to the ring with a game plan, which is good. He has an interesting team, but he also has the ability to make adjustments during the fight, and not many fighters will they can’t do that.
“Most fighters have only one style. ‘This is what I will bring to the ring, and I will live and die by this.’ Keith and Errol both have the ability to make adjustments in the ring.
“I think this is very interesting because you have Keith, who has the ability to move, take Errol’s balance, and make Errol a little more patient. You have Errol who has grown up now, and he will not be as patient as This is a really good fight.
“For Keith, it’s all about putting it together. I put it together a lot. There’s a lot of inside and a lot of outside too. To beat Errol, you have to be able to put it together and keep the imagination going. Keep it fixed.
“Once he finds his fish and finds out what this is going to be if you don’t get him out of it, you’re stuck. I think it’s an interesting game because you have someone who’s been there and knows what it takes to be great, and it’s just a matter of, can he. [Thurman] be great again?
“With Errol Spence, he’s a great guy, he’s living in his moment now, and he’s such a bulldog; ‘who’s next?’ I think that’s why everyone loves Errol because he beats them, and who’s next?
“He didn’t want to fight him,” Porter said of Spence not wanting to fight Thurman. “Here’s the other side of that. Keith has been out of work for a long time, a fight here, a fight there, and no one respects that. I didn’t respect that. Near the end of my career, when I started thinking, ‘Well, I can’t get Terence. Who else shall I fight?’
“Of course, there’s Keith’s look. You’ve got the history. This fight is being sold because of the history. There’s a lot of things that could work, and like that. ‘Well, it doesn’t work, you know? If I fight him and I look good, and he looks fine, there are many excuses.’
“I love the fact that you’ve got Errol saying, ‘OK, I’m going to fight you. You’ve got everybody saying, ‘You’ve got to fight it,’ and it’s a matter of Errol stone-cold going in there and running a business.” .
“I think the one thing that might fly under the radar for me is that I’m a very special player. I think you have players who love the sport and play the sport because they love it. I see the potential I have, and I know that there will be boxing.
“I am an exception to this rule. If you want something, go as far as you can. “I’m apart of the rules of being a good player, having ambition and drive, and using all of that to get there,” Porter said.
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