Porter faces Berto to earn Thurman fight

boxingnews24.com

By Eric Baldwin: Shawn Porter will be attempting to earn his way to a rematch against WBA/WBC welterweight champion Keith Thurman when he fights Andre Berto (31-4, 24 KOs) in a WBC 147 lb. eliminator match next month on April 22 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Porter (25-2-1, 16 KOs) wants a second chance against Thurman to avenge his loss to him last year.

It might take a while before Porter gets a second shot against Thurman, because he could be facing Danny Garcia in a rematch in the next four months. If that fight happens, Thurman will surely take a stay busy fight in his match after that one.

(Photo credit: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment)

As Berto showed in his second fight with Victor Ortiz last year, he can still crack. His hand speed might not be what it once was, but his power is still there. If Berto can land one of his big bombs on the chin of Porter, he’ll have a chance of winning. Apart from that, Porter will very likely win this match.

Thurman beat him by a 12 round decision, but he moved on afterwards instead of giving Porter a rematch. Thurman added another title to his collection last Saturday in defeating WBC champion Danny Garcia. It’s Berto and Porter’s bad luck that they’ll need to fight Thurman rather than Danny Garcia, because he would likely be an easier option due to him being a flat-footed fighter that doesn’t move a lot.

The Porter vs. Berto fight will be televised on Showtime Boxing on April 22 starting at 9:00 p.m. ET. The winner will be on the waiting list for Thurman to eventually fight. We could see the Porter-Berto winner facing Thurman in 2018.

Berto, 33, previously held the World Boxing Council 147 lb. title from 2008 to 2011. He lost the WBC belt to Victor Ortiz in getting beaten by a 12 round decision. As the WBC champion, Berto was softly matched in defending the title successfully five times in beating Steve Forbes, Luis Collazo, Juan Urango, Carlos Quintana and Freddy Hernandez.

If Berto could have continued fighting opposition like that, he would likely still be the WBC 147lb champion. He took zero chances as the WBC champion until he fought Ortiz in 2011, and even that fight wasn’t a risky one.

Thurman is likely not going to be in a hurry to fight Porter if he beats Berto, because he had a lot of problems in beating him by a narrow 12 round decision. Porter did a better job against Thurman than Danny Garcia did last Saturday night. One of the reasons for that is because Porter made it a point to put pressure on Thurman the whole time rather than just standing there the way that Garcia did.

Berto is not the best of options to be fighting in an eliminator right now because he’s not been the most active guy since he lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2015. Berto has fought just once since then in beating Victor Ortiz by a 4th round knockout in a rematch last April. Ortiz was technically a contender in the WBC’s ranking at the time, but you can argue that he shouldn’t have been ranked in the top 15 due to his poor record in his previous five fights. Ortiz came into the Berto rematch with a record of 2-3 in his last five fights. His only wins were against journeyman Manuel Perez and Gilberto Sanchez Leon.

“In a welterweight division that is filled with talent and marquee matchups, Berto versus Porter is another elimination bout on the road to crowning the king of the division,” said Lou DiBella, who will promote the card. “Berto and Porter are two established, offensive-minded professionals who understand the significance of this showdown. I expect fireworks on April 22 when one of them stakes claim to an even bigger opportunity.”