Shawn Porter challenges Errol Spence, says he’ll take his title

By Chris Williams

Boxingnews24.com

Shawn Porter says he’s still waiting on IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. for him to sign his side of the contract for a unficiation fight at 147-pounds this summer. Porter (30-2-1, 17 KOs), who holds the WBC welterweight title, says he’s not afraid of Spence (25-0, 21 KOs), and he’s confident that he’ll take his IBF belt and add it to his collection when the two of them meet inside the ring.

The boxing world views Spence as the #1 fighter in the welterweight division right now. He has notable wins over Lamont Peterson, Kell Brook, Mikey Garcia and Chris Algieri. In contrast, Porter has past victories over Danny Garcia, Paulie Malignaggi, Adrien Broner, Andre Berto, Yordenis Ugasand Adrian Granados. However, Porter lost to Kell Brook by a 12 round majority decision in August 2014, and the only notable win on his resume against a prime fighter is Danny Garcia. He’s more of a smaller welterweight, who has come up short against the elite level fighters at 147.

Spence defeated Brook by an 11th round stoppage in May 2017. Porter lost to Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman by a 12 round unanimous decision in June 2016. Porter’s recent 12 round split decision win over Yordenis Ugas last March was controversial, as he was seen as the clear loser in that fight. Brook was running from Ugas the entire 12 round contest, and getting worked over when he would stop moving.

“We can talk about Errol Spence being the boogeyman. I don’t mind,”said Porter to TMZ Sports. “We can talk about Errol Spence being the most dangerous man in the division. I don’t mind. He can have all those titles. He can have the IBF title. I’m the WBC champion. And, all it is is a matter of time before I take that title from him,” said Porter.

Shawn Porter still has Yordenis Ugas problems

The perception from boxing fans is Porter, 31, still has unfinished business with the talented Cuban Ugas (23-4, 11 KOs). Porter needs to go back and face Ugas in a rematch to show his many critics that he’s the better man. The fans overwhelmingly see Porter as having been given a gift decision over Ugas, who isn’t as well known as him. You can argue that the judge that scored the Porter-Ugas fight correctly was the one that saw Ugas winning by a 117-111 score. That’s the same score that Boxing News 24 had it for Ugas. It was a one-sided fight. Spence has nothing to gain in fighting Porter other than winning his WBC welterweight strap, and that’s less important than it would be for him to face the winner of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman fight or fight Saul Canelo Alvarez or Terence Crawford. Spence would do well to save Porter until after he’s exhausted all the good fights against popular fighters.

“Everything is lined up. Everything is ready. We’ve been presented some contracts. We put our signatures on those contracts, and now we’re waiting to hear from his side,” said Porter.

Spence had been trying to get a fight against Porter for a long time, but with no luck. Now that Spence has made a name for himself with his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision win over Mikey Garcia last Marcy on Fox Sports Pay-Per-View, all of a sudden Porter is showing interest in wanting to fight him. It’s interesting how things have changed after just one win for Spence.

Errol likely waiting for Pacquiao vs. Thurman outcome before making a decision on Porter fight

Spence has a chance for a bigger payday against the winner of the July 20th fight between WBA ‘regular’ welterweight champion Manny Paquiao and WBA Super World champion Keith Thurman. It would be a bigger fight for Spence to face the winner of that contest than it would be for him to face Porter, especially with him viewed as the loser in his last fight against Ugas. Moreover, there’s talk of Golden Boy Promotions being interested in a fight between Spence and Saul Canelo Alvarez for September. That’s a great fight, and much better than Porter.