The more Shawn Porter hears Errol Spence Jr. discuss his “dirty style,” the bigger psychological edge Porter feels he’ll have in their welterweight title unification fight. (photo by Ryan Hafey)

Porter suspects Spence knows that their 12-round fight will be far harder than odd-makers and many fans figure it’ll turn out September 28 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Spence is regularly listed as a 10-1 favorite versus Porter, who has lost only a majority decision to Kell Brook and a close unanimous decision to Keith Thurman.

“I think that there’s more than just [my physical style] in his mind when it comes to fighting me,” Porter said Tuesday during a conference call. “He knows he’s up against a lot. I think that those certain things he’s trying to be aware of, or make the referee aware of, I think that’s a mistake on his behalf. I think he may be looking at those things and overlooking other things, like my skill and my talent, and my speed and my quickness, and my boxing ability, you know? So, I think he’s in trouble and I think it’s only a matter of time before the world finds out.”

Spence repeatedly has predicted that he’ll become the first opponent to knock out Porter since the WBC welterweight champion made his pro debut in October 2008. Porter responded by stating Spence sounds as if he is trying to convince himself he can stop Porter inside the distance.

Porter stopped short of predicting that he’ll actually win their bout by knockout, but he thinks that’s a plausible result, too.

“If you’re asking me if I am gonna knock him out, or if I wanna knock him out? Heck, yeah,” Porter said. “Do I have what it takes? Heck, yeah. And I think that we’ve come up with a great game plan, and we definitely at some point will be looking at pressuring him and knocking him out.”

The battle between the 29-year-old Spence (25-0, 21 KOs), of DeSoto, Texas, and the 31-year-old Porter (30-2-1, 17 KOs), of Akron, Ohio, is the main event of a four-fight FOX Sports Pay-Per-View show. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.