Keith Thurman edged Shawn Porter on Saturday night, but if you’re looking for a loser, look elsewhere.
Twelve rounds, 36 minutes and did either fighter ever stop throwing? Back and forth, two proud 147-pounders winging haymakers, the title of the world’s best welterweight on the line, each fighting with the urgency it warranted. The Barclays Center crowd booed the decision, but you wonder if it was because instead of Round 13, a baby-faced usher was directing them towards the door.
This was what boxing could be, what it should be. “If you didn’t love this fight, you don’t love the sport,” said Lou DiBella, the show’s promoter. And he’s right. If styles make fights, Porter and Thurman are boxing’s Will and Kate, come-forward fighters who throw punches with Ramsay Bolton-level savagery. Some 203 power punches landed for Thurman, 177 for Porter and, man, it sure seemed like a lot more.
Chants of rematch rippled through the lower bowl, and who wouldn’t want to see that? Fear of failure is boxing’s terminal illness, and fights like this are proof it shouldn’t be. Canelo Alvarez, the lineal middleweight champion, is playing hide-and-seek with Gennady Golovkin, the real middleweight champion, effectively because of his promoter’s fear he will wind up like a bug on a windshield. BJ Saunders, a titleholder, talked tough about Golovkin before asking for the kind of absurd money — $4 million, an industry source told Yahoo! Sports — that makes a fight impossible.
Thurman-Porter is evidence that fear can be misplaced. Porter lost, but did his brand take any hit? A television-friendly fighter before, Porter will have networks lined up to write $1 million checks. Say Porter takes an interim fight before a Thurman rematch — a common practice for promoters trying to build momentum for the next fight. The connection Porter made with a network television audience will make him more appealing, regardless of the number at the end of his record.
There was plenty of backslapping in the bowls of Barclays Center on Saturday night, officials crowing that this was the PBC — Premier Boxing Champions, which presented the show on CBS that was brought to you by Showtime … got all that — finest moment. And it was. Since premiering in March 2015, PBC has been a disaster. Promises of high level fights have yielded a steady diet of inferior ones.
Consider: Thurman-Porter was preceded by the hot garbage — Andrzej Fonfara-Joe Smith — PBC shoved on primetime NBC last weekend and the upcoming ESPN slate is pathetic. Haymon is burning through money — hedge fund Waddell and Reed’s money — like a Desperate Housewife, and industry sources says networks have discussed dumping PBC cards as early as next year.
Thurman-Porter is an opportunity. Momentum is easy to build. Danny Garcia — an HBO-built star whose profile has deteriorated since a stellar 2012 — is without an opponent. There’s a Thurman fight. Andre Berto is a banger coming off a big win over Victor Ortiz. There’s one for Porter, too. PBC is flush with talent in the middle weight classes, loaded from 147-pounds on up to 154. From the raucous crowd to the buzz flowing through social media, the appetite for great fights is real. PBC just needs to offer them.
Start with Thurman. Late Saturday night, Thurman wound down a hallway, a bright smile on his face. Few fighters have the mainstream potential of Thurman. He’s charismatic, engaging, gifted with power in both hands. He demands the biggest fights — Garcia is next on his wish list — and fumes when he doesn’t get them.
“If you can beat me, then beat me,” Thurman said.
The Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao era is over, room for someone to seize the mantle has been created.
Thurman can seize it. He just needs a little help to do it.
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