Errol Spence Jr. doesn’t just want to beat Shawn Porter on Saturday night.
The hard-hitting southpaw seeks to become the first opponent of Porter’s career to knock him out. Spence preached patience during a recent conference call, though, in discussing how he’ll go about breaking down and stopping Porter.
“I just feel like, you know, the way he fights and the way he comes forward and the way sometimes, you know, he’s kind of reckless, aggressive, you know, I think I can exploit that stuff. … I’ll try and get the knockout, but not force it. I’m not gonna try and go in there and just force the knockout.”
Spence expects Porter to pressure him and attempt to rough him up in their 12-round, 147-pound title unification fight at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Porter expressed confidence during the same conference call that he, too, can win this FOX Sports Pay-Per-View bout by knockout.
Spence has knocked out 84 percent of his pro opponents, a significantly higher ratio than Porter (52 percent).
“That’s one of my goals, to knock him out,” Spence said. “I mean, it’s something that even before camp, you know, he said he wanna knock me out. And I wanna knock him out. But I’m not going in there overanxious and wild. I want it to be a calculated knockout.”
The 29-year-old Spence emphasized that he needs to remain composed against the determined, experienced Porter (30-2-1, 17 KOs).
“I don’t wanna be just overanxious,” Spence stated, “just throwing a lot of punches and, you know, missing a lot of shots, trying to go for the knockout. Just stay composed, you know, pick my shots, break him down and get a calculated knockout.”
Spence (25-0, 21 KOs), of DeSoto, Texas, had won 11 straight bouts by knockout or technical knockout before he went the distance with Mikey Garcia in his last fight.
Though significantly smaller, Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs) took Spence’s power for 12 rounds on his way to a lopsided loss on the scorecards. Spence won all 12 rounds on each of the three scorecards March 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (120-108, 120-108, 120-107).
Garcia, who jumped up two weight classes to challenge Spence, thinks Porter will take Spence the distance as well.
“I don’t believe Errol Spence will win by a knockout,” Garcia said. “I believe that it goes 12 rounds, but I do have Errol Spence beating Shawn Porter.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
