Porter: After I Beat Thurman, I am Number One at Welterweight!

By Edward Chaykovsky

Former IBF world welterweight champion Shawn Porter (26-1-1, 16KOs) believes a victory over WBA welterweight beltholder Keith Thurman (26-0, 22KOs) will make him the top dog at 147-pounds.

Their long awaited fight is scheduled for June 25th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. They were scheduled to face each other several times in recent months, but the fight continued to get postponed for one reason or another.

Porter has been out of the ring since his decision win over Adrien Broner last June. Thurman will also enter the ring off a lengthy layoff as he last saw action back in July when he stopped Luis Collazo.

Should Porter win, he will have some opposition to a claim of being the best fighter at the weight. Current IBF welterweight king Kell Brook decisioned Porter in a close, ugly fight in August of 2014. Brook is now set to face WBO champion Jessie Vargas, likely on August 27th in Sheffield. Should Brook win, he will have two of the four major titles at the weight. 

"I do [believe the winner should be number one], I consider Keith and I to be at the top of the division. With both of us having the records that we have, the experience that we have and the abilities that we have, it puts us at the top. Looking at my dad the other day, I told him, “Keith can’t beat me.” Basically after I beat Keith, I will be the number one guy at 147-pounds," Porter told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.

Retired pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired from the sport last September, vacating the WBC and WBA welterweight titles. Mayweather is now considering the possibility of a comeback in the fall.

Porter is not positive that Mayweather will be watching his upcoming fight with an eye on facing the winner. 

"We never know what’s going on in someone else’s head. I think it’s a fight that the whole world will be tuning into and that includes Floyd Mayweather. We don’t know what he’s going to be thinking, he may be watching for the excitement or possibly to see if there’s something he can do to beat us. If he feels there’s something he could do, he may try to make a fight, but you never know what he’s thinking until he comes out and says it," Porter said.