Welterweight Shawn Porter(24-1-1, 15KO’s) was in attendance to see his contemporary Keith Thurman defend his WBA World welterweight belt against Robert Guerrero last weekend in Las Vegas.
Porter joined another 147-pounder, Errol Spence, in telling Thaboxingvoice.com that he feels Thurman has now proven his worth to be considered one of the very best in the division.
“At this point I think Keith is showing he can give anyone a run for his money.”
Porter and Thurman have been running parallel on their ascent through the sport and have both managed to capture world titles before their thirtieth birthdays. While Thurman continues his undefeated roll, Porter’s run was cut short in his second defence against Kell Brook last August and he is looking to bounce back strong on March 13th against Roberto Garcia(36-3, 23KO’s).
Assuming he will emerge victorious on the night, Porter was quick to draw a comparison between himself and Thurman in that they are both directly beneath the marquee names, the flag bearers of their division.
“Keith is just like me, we’re old school fighters, we like to get in there and show our warrior spirit and either one of us get a shot at Manny [Pacquiao] or Floyd [Mayweather], it’s going down.”
A victory for either Thurman or Porter in any such fight would represent a passing of the torch for the welterweights. With both Pacquiao and Mayweather both nearing 40 years of age, Thurman and Porter are the hungry young lions waiting in the cut ready to eliminate them from the pride. After the elder statesmen finally face off on May 2nd only dangerous fights like this will be available to them, having exhausted all other alternatives as they danced around each other for the better part of a decade. Barring any disasters, Thurman and Porter look like the next generation.
