Garcia: If Porter Really Opens Up, It Could Be a Short Night!

By Keith Idec

Danny Garcia gets the feeling Shawn Porter will try to fight different when they meet than how Porter has boxed against other opponents.

If Porter approaches him the way Garcia envisions, a manner other than the smothering style Porter typically employs, Garcia believes he can become the first fighter to beat Porter by knockout. Porter has lost only a majority decision to Kell Brook and a unanimous decision to Keith Thurman during his nine-year, 31-bout pro career.

Adrien Broner dropped Porter in the 12th round of their bout, but Porter got up, finished the fight on his feet and won a unanimous decision in June 2015. Garcia is still confident he not only can stop Porter, but that he can knock out the former IBF welterweight champion in their 147-pound title fight September 8 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“I always go for the knockout,” Garcia told a group of reporters prior to a press conference Monday in Manhattan to promote their fight. “I always go for the knockout. And I really feel like if he really opens up, if he really opens up I really believe it could be a short night, if he really opens up – early.”

Garcia laughed off Porter’s contention that he could “box circles” around Garcia in their 12-round fight for the vacant WBC welterweight title (Showtime). Philadelphia’s Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs) hasn’t seen anything from the Akron, Ohio, native that leads Garcia to believe Porter (28-2-1, 17 KOs) is capable of out-boxing him.

“I’ve never seen him fight different,” Garcia told BoxingScene.com following the press conference. “That’s one thing I could say. I could put on every Shawn Porter fight right now and he’s gonna fight the same way every single time. I never seen him fight different. You know, I’ve boxed before, I’ve slugged before, I’ve fought going back, I’ve fought going forward.

“So I counter-punched, I led. I fight a lot of ways, and for him to say that he could possibly box circles around me, I highly doubt that because if he tries to fight off his back foot, that’s a bad idea for him.”

That said, Garcia expects Porter to attempt something different than his usual mauling style when they square off for a 147-pound championship an injured Keith Thurman gave up late in April.

“Well, he said he’s gonna try and box circles,” Garcia said, “so I said, ‘Sh*t, let’s dance with the stars.’ I really believe he’s gonna try something different. I just get the feeling when I look in a fighter’s eyes. And sometimes you could just read a fighter the way he talks, you know, the way he speaks. And, you know, on Twitter he said, ‘Don’t be surprised if I be boxing around you’ and stuff like that. So he probably thinks it’s easy to out-box me. That’s what he probably thinks, but it ain’t nothing easy over here. I break arms and everything. Keith Thurman tried to box me and I broke his arm, so sh*t.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.