By Lyle Fitzsimmons
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for Shawn Porter.
The sweet spot between the onset of training camp and the arrival of fight night that means the final stages of fine-tuning for an opponent – in this case, fellow former welterweight title claimant Danny Garcia – has arrived at last.
Porter calls it “peak week,” and he’s awfully happy that it’s about to begin.
“I named it peak week (because) everything we do on peak week, the week before the fight, is on an optimum level,” he said. “We’re only sparring maybe six to eight rounds, but those six to eight rounds are a lot like a fight. When peak week comes it’s like letting me know that ‘this is the last training you’re going to get, make the best of it, then go to New York and shine.’”
His opportunity comes 18 days from now in Brooklyn, where Porter and Garcia will meet for the WBC 147-pound belt that Garcia held until he was upended by Keith Thurman in March 2017. Myriad injuries, however, have prevented the new champ from making a title defense, so the Mexico-based sanctioning body ordered the match between the ex-champ and the mandatory challenger to fill the vacancy.
Thurman, who edged Porter in the summer of 2016, has been promised a shot at the winner as soon as he’s well enough to return. Porter is certainly anxious for a chance to avenge that defeat – his second, against 28 wins and a draw – but in the meantime he’s more than happy to continue revving for Garcia, with whom he’s generated an apparently mutual enmity.
“(Once peak week arrives,) it’ll become more mental preparation,” he said. “More film study, more of me doing the visualization that I do and the meditation that I do, the yoga that I do. All of that stuff will increase as the actual action and physical workload starts to decrease. Then once we get to New York, I’m glowing, because I know we’re getting closer to show time.”
Garcia and Porter came heatedly together in a Las Vegas ring after the Philadelphian ripped Brandon Rios in mid-February. Porter, who lives in Las Vegas, claimed Garcia was fighting in his “backyard,” which Garcia took exception to and prompted his challenge to meet Porter either in the street or at his gym.
The deal for the Sept. 8 fight was struck three months later.
“I could see myself shaking his hand after the fight. That’s a part of boxing, sportsmanship, that’s who I am and what I do,” Porter said. “But I’ve never really gone out of my way to speak to Danny and he’s never done the same. We’ve never hung out or anything like that at all. For me, the bad blood that you see came from a number of years, a length of time, of me wanting to fight him and never having the opportunity. Obviously, you call out a fighter and that fighter’s not too happy about it.
“There’s so much that we have to go after in this fight, him and I both, that it has become the fight of our lives.”
Indeed, Porter held the IBF’s title at 147 for eight months – defending once – during the latter stages of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s hold on the division, and Garcia initially ascended to the welterweight championship level by winning “Money’s” vacated WBC belt against Robert Guerrero in January 2016.
Neither man was able to cash in for a truly transcendent bout in the Mayweather-Pacquiao era, and both have been eclipsed to some extent by the rises of Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford, who now hold the IBF and WBO belts at 147. Crawford, Thurman and Spence are rated 1-2-3 by the Independent World Boxing Rankings, with Garcia at No. 5 (one slot behind a 39-year-old Pacquiao) and Porter at No. 7 (one position behind dubious Pacquiao conqueror Jeff Horn).
“When I was coming up and trying to become a world champion, Manny literally was at the height of his career – I’ve even been in camps with him – and the same for Floyd,” Porter said. “Then after those guys moved on, we tried to fill those shoes and here come other younger guys who have a lot of relevance. It doesn’t frustrate me at all, but I’m kind of like, ‘Wow, I did get kind of put in the middle where I thought I would be at the top.’ It’s up to Danny and myself to put on a great show and I think we’ll do that.”
Not surprisingly, Porter, who’ll be 31 in October, covets a chance – even as the so-called older man – to step in with Spence, who turned 28 in January. The younger man, now 24-0, was last seen two months ago in Frisco, Texas, where he stopped overmatched Carlos Ocampo with a body shot in the first round.
And so the call-out, if and when it comes, will have a purpose.
“That became important to me when people started to say Errol Spence was one of the top guys,” Porter said. “A lot like when I went after Keith Thurman. When I went after Keith, it wasn’t about getting his WBA title, it was all about beating him and proving to everyone I was better than him.
“I think it will be a lot the same, after winning (the WBC) championship, to go after Errol Spence for those same reasons.”
* * * * * * * * * *
This week’s legit title-fight schedule:
SATURDAY
WBO lightweight title – Glendale, Arizona
Raymundo Beltran (champion/No. 5 IWBR) vs. Jose Pedraza (No. 2 WBO/No. 9 IWBR)
Beltran (35-7-1, 21 KO): First title defense; Eleven previous fights in Arizona (9-2, 5 KO)
Pedraza (24-1, 12 KO): Fifth title fight (3-1); Held IBF title at 130 pounds (2015-17, two defenses)
Fitzbitz says: I know he’s a good guy and the media types love him, but I’ve never thought Beltran was all that. Problem is, I don’t feel all that much for Pedraza either. Toss up. Beltran by decision (51/49)
WBO junior featherweight title – Glendale, Arizona
Isaac Dogboe (champion/No. 3 IWBR) vs. Hidenori Otake (No. 6 WBO/No. 15 IWBR)
Dogboe (19-0, 13 KO): First title defense; Six previous fights in the United States (6-0, 3 KO)
Otake (31-2-3, 14 KO): Second title fight (0-1); Lost only career fight outside of Japan
Fitzbitz says: The challenger is bigger and far more experienced, but that probably won’t be a significant advantage here. Dogboe is dynamic and should take care of business impressively. Dogboe in 10 (85/15)
Last week's picks: 2-1 (WON: Rosales, Rakhimov; LOSS: Iwasa)
2018 picks record: 56-25 (69.1 percent)
Overall picks record: 977-329 (74.8 percent)
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.
