Shawn Porter knows a thing or two about the current welterweight picture. 

The 34-year-old Porter (31-4-1, 17 KOs) closed the curtains on his 13-year career in November following a stoppage loss to Terence Crawford.

The former 147-pound champion scored wins against the likes of Yordenis Ugas, Danny Garcia, Adrien Broner, and Andre Berto and suffered defeats to high-quality opposition like Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman, and Kell Brook.

One fast-rising star who’s ready to step in for Porter in the rankings and 147-pound picture is Jaron Ennis (29-0, 27 KOs).

When Porter was asked how Ennis would fare against Thurman, “Showtime” sided with the 25-year-old fighter from Philadelphia. 

“I like Boots Ennis [vs. Thurman]. Boots is young, he's fiery, he is very skilled, and where he is in his career, even just right now, he's one of the most talented fighters in boxing,” Porter told Ellie Seckbach of ESNews.

An Ennis-Thurman fight would be the perfect Litmus test to evaluate just how well the six-year upstart Ennis has developed thus far.  

The switch-hitting Ennis has immense talent and power in both hands, as displayed in one-sided wins against Custio Clayton, Thomas Dulorme, Sergey Lipinets, and Chris van Heerden over his last four fights dating back to 2020. 

The former world champion Thurman has made it clear that he needs to be paid handsomely for his services should he be asked to give an up-and-comer a shot to make a name for himself. 

Thurman appears to be waiting to see how the current negotiations for Crawford and Spence will unfold in order to make the next move in his career. 

Porter, who in addition to Crawford also fought and lost to Spence via split decision in 2019, opined on how he saw the super fight playing out. 

“That fight is virtually amazing. It's a back-and-forth battle. Tit for tat,” said Porter. “Even in my fight with Terence, a lot of people were expecting all the action. People started to realize these guys are being tactical. Both guys are smart. You're going to see that. There's a difference between hesitation and picking the right moves. Both of those guys have the ability to do that. As good as people thought that I was, I didn't have the ability to just pick those right moments. Plenty of times I got too greedy, and the list goes on. I didn't not take moments – but I took too many.” 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.