By Ryan Burton
Former welterweight champion Shawn Porter (26-2-1, 16 KOs) has not been in the ring since last June when he lost a close decision to current WBA/WBC welterweight champion Keith Thurman.
Just prior to Keith Thurman's March 4th split decision victory over Danny Garcia, it was officially announced that Porter would return to the ring against former welterweight title holder Andre Berto (31-4, 24 KOs). The bout takes place April 22nd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY with Showtime televising the fight.
"I am glad to be able to say that officially we are fighting Andre Berto, April 22nd, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn," said Porter.
In late January, Porter had told BoxingScene that he believed the fight would take place in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas but said that he has no issues fighting in New York.
"Obviously Vegas is my choice. It's why I moved out here but second to Vegas for me is probably always going to be the Barclays. Brooklyn has real fans. They got real people out there. They make a lot of noise, especially if they love what you are doing. We are always excited to go out there and fight," Porter explained.
As for the fight itself, Porter expects fireworks. He believes he is the better fighter in all facets of the game.
He expects to come as aggressive as he did in his fight versus Thurman and will try to take Berto's head off.
"You can expect me to be faster than Andre. You can expect me to be more powerful than him. Expect me to try to knock him out. Y'all saw the way I went after Keith Thurman. I'm gonna go after Berto the same way. We are going to try to outbox him and set it up from there. But at any moment in time I am going to go after the knockout," Porter told BoxingScene.com.
Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter
