Porter wants Canelo clash at 154-pounds

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Saul Canelo Alvarez Shawn PorterWe all know Shawn Porter the welterweight. Not many people know that the former IBF World welterweight champion has fought in three weight classes in his career thus far.

On October 10, 2008, Porter made his professional debut against Norman Johnson as a super-middleweight, weighing-in at 165 ½ pounds as he went on to stop his man in the first round. A month later, Porter was a middleweight when he fought Toris Smith, which resulted in another first-round stoppage. In November 2009, the Ohioan fought Jerome Ellis as a light-middleweight.

As we know, Porter (26-1-1, 16 KO’s) has gone on to find success in the welterweight division, briefly holding the IBF World title from December 2013 to August 2014 when he was defeated by Kell Brook.

According to his father and trainer Ken Porter, his son is willing to move back up to 154-pounds to face Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KO’s) in the future. Alvarez is expected to fight WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KO’s) on November 21st in a 155-pound catch-weight bout at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

If Porter is serious about fighting Canelo, he may have to wait a while. With a victory, Canelo will be mandated to fight WBA Super champion Gennady Golovkin. However, it’s possible that Canelo could organize a ‘step-aside deal,’ which would allow Canelo to fight someone else before fighting Golovkin.

However, Golovkin has already waited long enough for his opportunity to unify the middleweight division, and likely would not want any part of the deal.

Ken Porter, speaking with Fight Hype, said that he believes Canelo will defeat Cotto on November 21st.

“It’s intriguing to see what Cotto can do at this stage. He’s not the prime Cotto anymore, but he came back very well in his last fight,” Porter said. “He showed the ability to do some things he did in his younger days. I see the younger guy in Canelo being able to take this decision. I would love to have that fight as well because we don’t have a problem going to 154.

If they are unable to get that fight right away, the Porters are still open to fighting the best of the best at 147.

“He [Shawn] started his career out at 154. His first title fight was at 154,” Porter said. “His first 12-14 fights as a professional were at 154. We’re looking for something really big; the Danny Garcia’s of the world, the Keith Thurman’s of the world, the Amir Khan’s. These are the fights we’re looking for. I highly doubt A.B. [Adrien Broner] is going to come back out and take the rematch. But if he’s interested, we’ll definitely give him one.

“So, we want to close the show. We want close the year out really big, and we want a big fight. Keith [Thurman] says he wants a big fight. It’s not a problem for us. We’re interested in it. We want to do it, yes,” he added.

Porter hasn’t weighed-in above 147 since he fought Phil Lo Greco in 2013. And since, he’s been between 144 and 147 pounds. He has a team of professionals behind him that can prepare him for a fight at any weight, as he put the catch-weight myth to sleep against Broner in June. The team chemistry that exists within the team is remarkable, and that makes them a threat against anyone right now.

I expect Porter to eventually move out of the welterweight division, but I don’t see that happening for at least a year or two. There are a lot of big fights to be made in the division right now and there just isn’t a whole lot past 147 right now.

If Porter can get a Thurman fight by the end of this year and come out victorious – we could be talking about a rematch against Kell Brook in the summer – that is if Amir Khan keeps avoiding him.