NEW YORK ? They both knew this night was coming for years. If they each became what they thought they might, there was no avoiding it.
They had boxed on amateur teams together all over the world, ate meals together, came to know each other?s families. They were and remain friends, yet they understood one night that could not be. Tonight is that night.
For WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman and former IBF title-holder Shawn Porter to become the welterweight face of boxing there is no more avoiding each other. Tonight they will come to the Barclays Center and square off in the first nationally televised prime time boxing event on CBS in 38 years. They are here to make history at the expense of the other.
Boxing is the most elemental of sports. That is especially true for Thurman and Porter, who arrive at arenas with mayhem on their minds. They are not there to dance and move, not there to exhibit defensive prowess or oily slickness. They come to fight and so it will be tonight when two friends who no longer can stand in the path of the other?s greatness.
?There are real stakes on the line,? Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) said. ?Our careers are on the line. My title is on the line. My undefeated record is on the line.
?For me, it?s almost like a dream come true. It?s surreal. I remember at an early age in boxing saying I want to be the guy that brings boxing back. This is an opportunity to showcase our skills to the world. The winner will have an opportunity to be the head guy in the sport. I?ve always wanted to have a legacy in the sport. I want to be the undisputed welterweight champion of the world. I want to be a part of that history.?
For Thurman, there is only one road to get there and it leads through a fighter who has been a friend, but not tonight. Although they only sparred once in all the years they spent circling each other, Thurman understands that to become what he wants to be, which is the replacement for Floyd Mayweather Jr., he must first hurt Shawn Porter tonight. Bad.
?I?ve always considered myself a knockout artist,? Thurman said. ?Back to when I was a teenager knocking out grown men in headgear. Ever since then, I?ve been dropping people like a bad habit. I?ve stated it before. I?m going for the knockout.
?I?m ready for Shawn Porter. My hands are itching for a knockout. I?m ?One Time? all the time. That?s my philosophy. Every single time I step into the ring I?m looking for the knockout. He?s a great fighter, but I will be the better man.
?I?m grateful and blessed to have grown up with this kid and to have this opportunity with the same person, knowing he?s in the way of my dream and I?m in the way of his dream. The 25th is the only day I?m not cheering for Shawn Porter.?
Thurman?s nickname is also his philosophy. He hits you ?one time? right and you go to sleep, he says. Normally that?s not how you treat a friend but there is little that is normal about boxing.
Even in an age of deep concerns over concussions, it is boxing?s aim to concuss your opponent. There are other ways to win but Thurman and Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) are in the hurt business.
So tonight, when Porter gets into the ring after a year layoff since the biggest win of his life, a one-sided victory over former champion Adrien Broner, he will forget any thoughts of friendship.
Boxing, you must understand, is not a sport where opponents hug before the first tap because the first tap in boxing is a punch in the face. Thurman made that clear when the two first got together to hype the fight and he turned to his old friend and said, ?I love you bro, but I?m going to have to do my best to put you to sleep.?
Any thought the 27-year-old Porter had that this might be about the manly art of self-defense quickly dissolved. Friend or no friend, this would be a night like all the rest he?d faced in boxing since his father first brought him to a gym in Ohio, when he was too young to know that road to success is known as Pain Avenue.
?I know Keith,? Porter said. ?He?s a cut-throat fighter. If he has the opportunity, yes, he will try to knock me out. But I?m looking forward to knocking him out. I?ve never been more excited about a fight in my life.
?This isn?t the first time and it won?t be the last that two friends fight. I?m done talking about us being friends because it?s time for us to start punching each other.
?That?s why this fight is on CBS prime time. I know Keith has that in him and he knows damn well I have it in me. I?m coming for his head. It doesn?t matter that we?re friends. I know at the end of the day it doesn?t matter to him. It can?t be friendship.?
Thurman is the more powerful puncher but Porter is aggressive, quick and relentless. His power is such that while it may not be ?one time? power you don?t want to be hit two times by him in succession.
The winner, especially if a concussive one, will become the biggest star in the division and, because this fight will be seen by a far wider audience than even premium cable television can provide, it will be a turning point for one of them.
For both actually, one turning up while the other goes down.
?We both have legacies,? Thurman said. ?We both have dreams we want to live. If that means getting through each other, so be it.?
