Porter-Thurman inevitable, announcement to come before Garcia-Guerrero

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Shawn Porter- Keith ThurmanThere have been many fights throughout boxing’s history to fall through. Even when a fight seems so close to being made and so obviously beneficial to all parties, including the demand from fans, there is always a way of preventing it.

 

In the case of Keith “One Time” Thurman and “Showtime” Shawn Porter, it seems like the announcement is all but inevitable. The fight seems like it was strategically set up so that neither fighter could really back out, and the pressure has mounted to the point that a certain backlash awaits the fighter that avoids the other.

 

Still, all signs point to the fight being made and being made next.

 

“We’re gonna fight the ‘Fighter of the Year’ and we’re going to beat him,” Ken Porter, the father/trainer of Shawn Porter, said in an interview with Thaboxingvoice’s Fernando Pimentel.

 

Ken is confident that the fight is going to happen, even if the other side has been reluctant to offer up any reassurances.

 

In fact, Ken says that he is confident that the fight will be set and announced before the first major welterweight promotion of the New Year between Danny Garcia and Robert Guerrero on January 23rd in Los Angles, California.

 

In that same interview with Thaboxingvoice, Ken made it clear that there is no other option, no backup plan, no list of opponents. Traditionally, marquee fighters under the Al Haymon banner are given at least three opponents to choose from and any failed attempt to secure one of the three opponents results in simply moving on to the next. However, Team Porter is gearing up for Keith, and Keith’s name is the only one being mentioned to the Porter team.

 

When asked about any other options, Ken said, “No, I’ve been told, I’ve been given reassurance on more than one occasion it’s going to be Keith Thurman.”

 

Still, Ken and Shawn have to be a bit nervous based on the fact that the fight has failed to be secured despite the fact that there was already an initial date setup for the fight in December. And while that date was always flawed, there is an obvious snag in the negotiation process.

 

Thurman has failed to produce any real media interviews and has gone out of his way to not speak on the fight one way or the other.

 

Ken didn’t really appreciate Thurman’s only recent comments regarding Shawn.

 

During PBC’s “Year in Review” show a couple weeks ago, Thurman was in studio to accept the honors of PBC’s “Fighter of the Year” award, an award that Ken says Thurman only earned by prolonging the negotiations for a fight with Shawn to happen in 2016, thus giving Keith an unblemished 2015 – not to mention holding Shawn to one less fight on the year.

 

Ken felt as though Keith’s words were not indicative of a fighter that wants to fight Shawn. Actually, Ken says that Thurman spoke of Shawn like an afterthought.

 

“You’re not mentioning him first or even second. But I don’t think (Keith) is in a hurry to take this fight, and obviously, he’s not in a hurry to take it because it’s been 3 or 4 months now that we’ve been talking about this fight and nothings come out on his end that lets us know it’s getting ready to happen.

 

“But we’re being reassured that it is going to happen.”

 

Ken is holding onto the promises being made, which is the only real option he has until the signatures of both fighters reach a paper contract.

 

There is a mutual respect between both camps and Ken’s criticism of Keith is more than likely a means of goading Thurman into the fight.

 

But, in all honesty, Ken could just sit back and allow the scorn from fans and the media to become critical of Thurman should he fight almost anyone else next. Unless Keith fights the likes of Amir Khan or Kell Brook next, he is risking hostile repercussions if he doesn’t fight anyone on Shawn’s level.

 

We’ll all know that Shawn wanted the fight and then he could go on and regroup without much criticism. But Thurman won’t enjoy the same set of circumstances.