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Garcia vs. Porter Boxing Preview
There has been a lot of excellent boxing action as of late. We just saw a surprise TKO when Eleider Alvarez caught Sergey Kovalev on the button while Sergey was clearly dominating the fight. That one punch was the catalyst for a couple of belts going bye-bye. And next up, we have the WBC welterweight title fight in September. Danny Garcia vs. Shawn Porter is finally happening. The Philly native is coming off an impressive 9th round KO of Brandon Rios, while Shawn Porter beat Adrain Granados by unanimous decision in fight that he dominated from start to finish.
Vacant Belt Up For Grabs
This was Danny Garcia’s belt before Keith Thurman pushed Garcia around, fought through a broken elbow and took the belt. It was just the 3rd title-unification fight between undefeated welterweights ever. Oddly enough, Danny Garcia did enough work to get a chance to get that belt back. His power-shots to the body ended up breaking Thurman’s right elbow. Due to reparative surgery, Keith Thurman could not defend his title and had to vacate the title.So, it now comes down to Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia who are the two WBC mandatory contenders. And let’s just say, the pot has been getting stirred all year long between these two.Whether this is organic or by design is tough to tell. Right after Garcia knocked out Brandon Rios, solidifying his comeback after his decision loss to Thurman, the announcer asked if he [Danny Garcia] would like a rematch with Keith Thurman, but out pops Shawn Porter, loud-mouthing and causing problems to the point where he gets kicked out. The drama is there, and it looks like we’ll have a blood-feud on our hands on September 8th in the Barclays Center.
No Fighter Favored Yet
Trusted betting sites like BetOnline haven’t released odds on this event yet. But you can be sure that odds will come out shortly on this fight. So if you are looking to place a wager make sure to read a review of BetOnline first.
At 30 years of age each, both fighters are veterans with excellent records. Shawn Porter is 28-2 with 17 KO’S and Garcia is 34-1 with 20 KOs. At 5-foot 8 ½, Garcia as an inch-and-a-half height advantage, but Porter makes up for that with an inch of reach on Garcia at 69 ½inches.
Concerns for Each Fighter
The main thing that Shawn Porter should be concerned with is Garcia’s chin. Keith Thurman – who is a much more powerful puncher than Porter – hit Danny Garcia with everything but the kitchen sink and couldn’t knock him down. Neither could Lucas Matthysse, Khan, or Lamont Peterson. Porter likes to swarm his opponents, but he’ll have to be careful because if he gets countered by Garcia’s big left hand, he might be waking up looking at the Barclays Center lights asking what happened.
Garcia has to watch out for Shawn Porter’s head. Porter loves to get some ‘incidental’ headrubbing going on. So, I could see Garcia getting cut due to a head-butt that Porter would then be able to work on to open up. Porter has a very aggressive style, he likes to come forward and bully his opponents. That swarming pressure could rattle Danny Garcia if he starts getting pushed around early (like in the Thurman fight).
Thoughts & Prediction
In the end, I have to give the edge to Garcia because of his chin and boxing ability. As long as he doesn’t let Porter walk him down and play the ‘brawling’ game, he should win the fight. I don’t think Porter can knock Garcia out, and if Danny uses his movement to create angles to start landing that explosive left hook, Porter will have to respect him and back off. If that happens, they are playing Garcia’s game, and he’ll take the fight.
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