“SHOWTIME” RETURNS TO SHOWTIME
Shawn Porter (r)
Los Angeles, CA– IBF welterweight (147) champion Shawn “Showtime” Porter (24-0-1, 15 KO) defends his belt against England’s Kell “Special K” Brook (32-0, 22 KO) on Saturday night at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, CA. Of course, you can catch Showtime on the Showtime network, which puts on the best cards in boxing at the moment. This is a great fight for the fans, and either guy has a chance to pick up a nice W and put themselves in position for some big paydays down the line. That being said, expect Porter to serve up a “Special KO”.
“MUM” MAY NOT RECOGNIZE KELL AFTER
Brits, with the exception of Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KO), normally have crumpets for chins, and I expect Kell to learn this the hard way on Saturday night. Porter is coming off a 12-round walloping of Devon Alexander (26-2, 14 KO) for the IBF strap and a 4-round demolition of veteran Paulie Malignaggi (33-6, 7 KO) that was by far the worst beating of the Brooklynite’s storied career.
PORTER SIZE & STRENGTH TRUMPS TALENT OF BROOK
Brook has shown flashes of brilliance throughout his career, and has given most of his opposition “a good pasting”, if I may borrow some Brit slang. Porter, until recently, was just a fairly above-average welterweight. He seems to have turned a corner now, and would match up well with anyone in the world at his weight. The fact that Adrien “The Problem” Broner (28-1, 22 KO) was unable to put a dent in Malignaggi, and lost their fight in some fans eyes, speaks volumes about how strong Porter truly is.
CO-MAIN ALSO A TITLE FIGHT
Sakio Bika (32-5-3, 21 KO) has done a nice job of keeping Andre Ward’s (27-0, 14 KO) WBC super middleweight (168) belt warm for him these last few fights. Ward of course dominated Bika a few years back, but was stripped of his belt because boxing loves to shoot itself in the foot every chance it gets. Regardless, Bika will defend Ward’s belt against the very talented Anthony Dirrell (26-0-1, 22 KO).
REMATCH OF A FIGHT DIRRELL SHOULD HAVE WON
In December of last year, Bika and Dirrell fought to a draw that many felt should have been a win for Dirrell. I am among those people, and I feel Dirrell will prove who the better fighter is on Saturday night. This fight could be a main event on other cards, but serves as a nice appetizer to the main course here.
YET ANOTHER TITLE FIGHT
If two title fights is not enough to satisfy your pugilistic cravings, Omar Figueroa (23-0-1, 17 KO) has you covered. The current owner of the WBC lightweight (135) belt will defend against Daniel Estrada (32-2-1, 24 KO). While I am not completely sold on Figueroa, I think he has enough talent to beat Estrada.
UNDERCARD HAS SOME STARS
American heavyweight (200+) Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (31-0, 31 KO) adds another pad to his record in Jason Gavern (25-16-4, 11 KO). This is a “stay busy” fight for “The Tuscaloosa Tornado”, so I will not get on him too much for it as long as he does end up taking on Bremane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KO) for the WBC belt in the fall. Lightweight Jorge “La Cara De Papel” Linares will put his paper face on the line against Ira Terry (26-11, 16 KO) in another stay busy fight, while heavyweight prospect Dominic Brazeale (11-0, 10 KO) will face Billy Zumbrun (27-13-1, 16 KO).
Zak Young