Mosley Tabs Porter Over Thurman: He Has Better Chin, Endurance

By Carlos Boogs

Former three division world champion 'Sugar' Shane Mosley, 44-years-old, was one win away from another world title shot opportunity.

The World Boxing Association made Mosley's clash with David Avanesyan a final eliminator with a guaranteed welterweight title shot. Mosley was unable to secure it, losing a twelve round decision to the younger man on Saturday night in Arizona.

Keith 'One Time' Thurman (26-0, 22KOs) is the WBA's welterweight world champion and defends his title on June 25th against former IBF king Shawn Porter (26-1-1, 16KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Mosley is giving Porter the edge in the upcoming contest. He feels Porter has the better chin and the better endurance to withstand a tough twelve round contest.

The veteran is unsure of Thurman's ability to take a good punch. Thurman has been rattled a few times as a pro, but he's always come back to stop those opponents inside the distance. According to a few of his past opponents, his punching power is very deadly in the first six rounds but then fades, round by round, in the second half of the contest.

"I believe that it's going to be a good, tough fight between Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman. I know that Shawn trains very hard and he's always in the gym. He's ready to go twelve hard rounds. I'm not sure if Thurman can go twelve hard rounds. He can punch very hard, but his chin is probably not as good as Shawn Porter's [chin], and his endurance is probably not as good as Shawn Porter's, so I'm leaning towards Shawn [to win]," Mosley said.