Ken Porter is confident that his son, Shawn Porter, will be victorious on June 20th when he meets Adrien Broner at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada in the feature bout of a “PBC” on NBC card. The bout came as a surprise to most when it was announced that negations were close to being finalized. Although Ken, who has trained Shawn for his entire career, admits that he was still surprised when it became official because he doubted Broner would actually take the fight.
Most view this matchup as an even fight, but that is based on the catch weight that favors Broner. Porter and Broner will meet at a 144lb catch weight which is between the 140lbs that Adrien fights at and the 147lb welterweight max that Shawn fights at, although Shawn has fought as high as middleweight.
The Porter team isn’t taking this fight lightly at all, but Ken isn’t at all worried about Shawn’s ability to win the fight. Specifically his ability to perform with the 10lb rehydration clause as stipulated in the fight contract.
Ken told Thaboxingvoice.com that he expects the best version of Broner, but he doubts his tactics will have any effect on Shawn’s dictating the fight.
“It’s not going to be hell for 12 rounds, I don’t see that at all. If it goes the distance, I will be shocked and surprised. I’m sure that Broner is coming 1000%, but we’re coming 10,000%. He thinks he’s fast, we’re faster. He thinks he’s strong, we’re stronger. He thinks he’s a skillful boxer; we’re more skillful at boxing,” Ken told Thaboxingvoice’s own Sean Zittel.
Ken assures Thaboxingvoice that Broner will get a different version of Shawn than he might expect; different with the exception of Shawn’s intensity, which has become a consistent factor in Shawn’s fights.
The contracted weight has been referred to by Ken as the one lifeline Broner feels he has. He believes that Broner wouldn’t have taken the fight without the weight stipulation, but he says that it was a mistake. Shawn will make the weight easy and maintains the fact that his son was under 9 pounds within the 30-day mark of the fight. Shawn is eating well and staying strong.
The disappointment for Ken is knowing that Broner, a former welterweight champion. Could’ve agreed to the full welterweight limit and allow it to be for a vacant world title—one of the titles that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has agreed to vacated before heading into his supposed career finale.
“They wouldn’t take the fight unless we came down to 144lbs. They wanted him to come down to 143lbs. We have an opportunity to fight for a welterweight world championship belt because Mayweather’s giving up the belts, and you won’t take it because you don’t think you can win the fight.”
For Ken, Broner will lose in the same manner whether the fight is at 144lbs or the max 147lbs, so why not make it for the title? The weight will not make a difference, according to Ken, and he believes the direction of the fight will be dictated by Shawn in the same way regardless of any stipulations.
“I think [Broner] is going to move, I think he’s going to grab, I think he’s going to hold, I think he’s going to push, and he’s going to try to box—he damn sure ain’t going to bang—he’s an excellent boxer and he can move but when you haven’t been fighting that way it may happen that [he’ll revert] because of the things Shawn is going to do to him. [Broner] thinks it’s going to be a boxing match and then a fight breaks out.”
This fight is interesting on many levels. For one, it offers a matchup between two completely different types of individuals. Broner is a brash, sometimes overly flamboyant character that lives a lifestyle filled with partying and keeping appearance. Shawn, on the other hand, is humble and dedicated to his craft at all times and does not let outside factors interfere with his professional goals.
Broner was recently spotted with R&B star Chris Brown drinking Champaign at a night club. He was doing this while in camp, and the perception is that he isn’t doing the right things as he heads into one of the biggest tests if not the biggest, in his career. Ken says that this will be a mistake that costs Broner on fight night.
“That’s going to kick him in the ass. It ain’t going to bite him in the butt; that’s going to punch him in the nuts.”
