Porter: Exhibition Puts an End To Camp, Helps Me Start Fresh

By Ryan Burton

On Friday the highly anticipated Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter match up was rescheduled for June 25th.  The fight had been rumored for months and finally had a date of March 12th. The bout was to air on CBS and take place at The Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

That date had to be scrapped when Thurman was involved in a fender bender.

Porter and his father/trainer Kenny were naturally disappointed and decided to hold an exhibition match on that same March 12th date that they were originally slated to fight.

Shawn said that part of the though process behind the exhibition bout was to officially put an end to the extremely long training camp.

"This will put an end to that. We are basically putting a stop to this camp that we started way back. We are going to stamp that Saturday night and then go on a spiritual retreat or something after that. I need something. This fight isn't coming till June 25th so I need something to keep me sane," Porter told BoxingScene.com.

The former IBF welterweight champion is a gym rat and isn't planning on taking a long break even though the Thurman fight is still over three weeks away.  He said that after a short break he will go right back to work.

"I have to take a week off just to refresh myself. When I said I need a spiritual retreat I was only half kidding. I need a spiritual retreat, something that is going to get me in the right frame of mind spiritually, mentally and definitely physically so that I can be 100%," Porter explained.

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