By Victor Salazar

New York - Welterweights Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 KO’s) and Shawn Porter (26-1-, 16 KO’s) are in agreement on one thing - their upcoming bout is much bigger now than it was before.

The fight was postponed several times last year and then finally set for a date in March. Thurman suffered an injury from a car accident and withdrew. Now the bout has been scheduled for June 25th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

“It’s gotten bigger,” Porter told BoxingScene.com. “Things have moved to the Barclays Arena, very excited to be a part of this. June 25th can’t come any sooner.”

Porter seems to always be smiling but there was an extra feeling of happiness for a fighter that will be coming of a year-long layoff. He's been out of the ring since his decision victory over Adrien Broner last June.

“The layoff does not factor into me,” Porter said. “I’ve done a layoff like this before. I was in a contract dispute in 2011 and didn’t fight at all. It’s a part of what you go through in this sport. I know when the bell rings it’s going to be Showtime.”

Thurman will be coming off a similar layoff as his last bout happened in July of 2015 against Luis Collazo. In that fight, Collazo landed a body shot on Thurman, who seemed to be very hurt from the punch. Porter feels his body work among other things will be key to winning the fight.

“I noticed that he doesn’t work on the inside,” Porter said. “I don’t know if he’s going to switch it up and move and something like that. I always expect the best from whoever I’m fighting. But if you had to put a stat on it, the stats of the bodywork goes to my side of the equation. I’m going to try get in the body work, the headshots, offense to defense, and the whole nine."

"I think the smarter fighter wins this fight, not the tougher fighter or the fighter with the most heart.....that plays a role but whoever lands the right punches at the right time, who moves at the right time.”

Should he be victorious, Porter hopes to have at least one if not two marquee fights.

“We are counting. We know the timeline and what it looks like, we take care of Keith fast, and we’ll get back before fall. We are trying to anticipate two fights this year, maybe three.”