Ken Porter is not concerned with going up against Angel Garcia

By Ryan Burton

On September 8th former champions Danny Garcia (34-1) and Shawn Porter (28-2-1) will square off for the vacant WBC welterweight title. 

The fight takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY and will be televised by Showtime.

The title became vacant when the oft-injured Keith Thurman relinquished the title after being injured again during training for his comeback bout. He still holds the WBA title.

Both fighters' fathers also serve as their trainers.  Danny's father Angel is very outspoken while Shawn's father Kenny is more laid back.  Angel has butted heads in the past with trainers like Ruben Guerrero but the elder Porter isn't the least bit concerned.

"It's not really nothing to think about at all. As I told somebody the other day, I had rivals in the amateurs I went up against - guys that are very known now on a professional level. My chief rival was Naazim Richardson. That was the biggest rival I had in the amateurs as far as coaching. I had other guys who were mentors to me - Virgil Hunter - and I had other guys who I coached with together like Barry Hunter.  Angel Garcia was never around. We never saw Angel. This wasn't a guy that was in our quad, a guy that we went up against. He was nonexistent then and he is nothing more now to me. He has a kid that can fight. He is a great fighter but the father has never been on my radar. He never sat in on some of the courses that I took. He was never on the national teams I went up against or the international competitions. So that isn't something that I am concerned with," explained Porter.

Garcia has been criticized in the past for not always fighting the top opposition.  While he has faced elite competition like Keith Thurman and Lucas Matthysse, he has also fought fighters like Rod Salka and Robert Guerrero and Brandon Rios when they were past their primes.

Porter believes that his son will be the best fighter that Garcia has fought in his career and is very confident that his son will win the fight via stoppage.

"This will be the best fight for him. The fight against Keith Thurman was lackluster. That was my eyes. I was sitting there. I was sitting front row. It left a lot to be desired and when Keith figured out that the guy couldn't catch up to him or cut the ring off it became an easy night for Keith. Do I blame Keith for deciding to move around the rest of the fight? No I do not because it became an easy night for him. If you can get your money and you can leave without getting scarred up or busted up take your money and go. We definitely are that litmus test for him and we are going to press his ass to that limit and it is up to the referee, or the doctor or the dad to make a decision and we are going to force that decision. That is my intent,"  Porter told BoxingScene.com.

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