Saturday Brings Welterweights into Post-Mayweather Spotlight

By Lyle Fitzsimmons

The time has arrived.

Come Saturday night in Brooklyn, the boxing world will hold its breath about a high-profile fight in the 147-pound spotlight, and no one named Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be involved.

And while that scenario may have initially brought shudders to Showtime executives whose mortgages hinge on pay-per-view buys, those jitters should have eased by Sunday morning.

Regardless of who won.

If Shawn Porter’s hand is raised about eight miles from midtown Manhattan, it won’t only give the 28-year-old a second world title—it’ll renew his status as the next best thing in boxing’s best division.

Porter was on the record heading into his ill-fated Kell Brook fight two years ago, saying he was more interested in punching Mayweather than succeeding him, and it was a theme he would surely have repeated had he not wound up on the short end of a majority decision at StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Few could argue that the Ohio native had worked his way into penthouse chatter with pre-Brook accomplishments. He was 3-0 in a 12-month run that included a one-sided correction of the only blemish on his record against Julio Diaz (UD 10), alongside decisive wins over ex-147-pound title claimants Devon Alexander (UD 12) and Paulie Malignaggi (TKO 4).

And he’s restarted the engine since, erasing Erick Bone in five rounds and outworking Adrien Broner over 12 to earn the Thurman date.

He’s positioned No. 5 in the world by the Independent World Boxing Rankings, which slot all fighters regardless of the sanctioning titles they possess, and would be among the most decorated and precocious if he indeed emerges from Brooklyn with a victory. Of the four fighters ahead of him—Manny Pacquiao, Timothy Bradley, Brook and Danny Garcia—only Garcia, by five months, is younger.

And when the rest of the old guard clears out, the young guns may not skip much of a beat.

Six others who’ve not yet reached age 30 are slotted between Nos. 6 and 15 on the IWBR roll at welterweight, and a pair of hot commodities at 140 pounds—Terence Crawford (28) and Viktor Postol (32)—have either discussed making plans at 147 going forward, or been the subject of similar conversations started elsewhere.

Ironically, Showtime’s Jim Gray planted seeds for Saturday’s 20-something super fight during the Porter-Brook undercard when he sidled up alongside Thurman—who’s 26-0, occupies the No. 6 slot on the IWBR list and launched a subtle jab at Team Porter when discussing a get-together in the future.

“A lot of fans want to see that,” Thurman told Gray. “But I don’t know if the Porter team wants me.”

We’ll find out whether he truly does or not come this weekend.

Regardless, it’s nice to know that even when the “Money” has run out, the excitement hasn’t.

“This is a very interesting time in boxing you can clearly see, all you have to do is go to Ring Magazine, look at the welterweight division and you’ll see nothing but a list of a whole bunch of young fighters at the top,” Thurman said. “I’m happy, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this for many years now. I’ve always said Floyd has been taking up the spotlight in the welterweight division. It isn’t that it wasn’t well deserved. He has worked very hard in his career and done a lot of tremendous things, but when you have someone so popular like Floyd it is hard to compete, and one man was able to compete and that man was Manny Pacquiao.

“But the welterweight division has been flooded with talent for years and years and years. So now I have an opportunity, being one of the welterweights that is at the top, this fight against Shawn Porter, in my opinion, is the performance where I can separate myself from the other welterweights. Ring Magazine has Kell Brook as No. 1 and everybody knows that the toughest fighter Kell Brook ever beat was Shawn Porter, so after this fight with Shawn Porter, if I am able to do it in a greater fashion than Kell Brook, I believe I will be making a big statement in the welterweight division.”

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This week’s title fight schedule:

SATURDAY
IBF mini flyweight title -- Tepic, Mexico
Jose Argumedo (champion/No. 4 IWBR) vs. Julio Mendoza (No. 14 IBF/No. 20 IWBR)
Argumedo (17-3-1, 10 KO): First title defense; Unbeaten in scheduled 12-rounders (4-0, 2 KO)
Mendoza (11-4, 3 KO): First title fight; Second fight outside Nicaragua (0-1)
Fitzbitz says: Argumedo has done more in title-length fights and has performed far better against foes at or near what’s considered world class. That should be more than enough here. Argumedo in 5

IBF heavyweight title – Greenwich, United Kingdom
Anthony Joshua (champion/No. 8 IWBR) vs. Dominic Breazeale (No. 13 IBF/No. 25 IWBR)
Joshua (16-0, 16 KO): First title defense; One fight has lasted past three rounds (34 total rounds)
Breazeale (17-0, 15 KO): First title fight; First fight outside of United States
Fitzbitz says: Joshua hasn’t done enough to impress some critics, but he’s got a fundamentally flawed foe in front of him who can’t help but make him look spectacular in a first defense. Joshua in 3

WBA welterweight title – Brooklyn, New York
Keith Thurman (champion/No. 6 IWBR) vs. Shawn Porter (No. 2 WBA/No. 5 IWBR)
Thurman (26-0, 22 KO): First title defense; Eighth fight scheduled for 12 rounds (7-0, 4 KO)
Porter (26-1-1, 16 KO): Fourth title fight (2-1); Held IBF title at 147 (2013-14, one title defense)
Fitzbitz says: The closer I get to fight time, the more I change my mind. The initial instinct was that Porter would swarm to a victory, but it’s now a matter of precision and power. Thurman by decision

Last week’s picks: 1-0 (WIN: Warren)
2016 picks record: 45-10 (81.8 percent)
Overall picks record: 777-258 (75.0 percent)
 
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.