Shawn Porter Reveals Secret To Having Successful Father-Son Duo

By Keith Idec

Respect.

That, according to Shawn Porter, is one of the main reasons why the father-son/trainer-fighter partnership he enjoys with his father, Ken, has worked better and lasted longer than most in boxing.

While such famous father-and-son pairs as Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have experienced well-documented ups and downs during their careers, Ken and Shawn Porter have maintained a cordial and prosperous relationship throughout Shawn’s amateur and pro career.

They’ll spend Father’s Day completing training camp for Shawn Porter’s welterweight championship showdown with unbeaten WBA 147-pound champ Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) on June 25 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (CBS).

“In many of those father-son duos, the son is usually a hot head and it’s hard in and out of the ring,” Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) said during a recent conference call. “It makes that relationship hard to deal with. My dad and I, we click and we can make it happen. There’s nothing that we go through that doesn’t help us raise each other’s levels and bring us to the place that we need to be, where we’re able to perform in the ring together and be successful together.

“I think that’s what kind of separates us – our love and our bond and our respect for one another. Being able to mesh our personalities, I think that separates us from other father-and-son duos.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.