NEW YORK ? It has been nearly 14 months since the massively disappointing showdown in Las Vegas between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and the sport of boxing ? especially its glamorous welterweight division that those two fighters long ruled ? has yet to recover.
Saturday night?s showdown at Barclays Center in Brooklyn between Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter was designed to address the issue and establish a new pecking order in the 147-pound division. But more than that, the bout ? the first to be broadcast live on CBS since 1978 ? also was intended to restore some goodwill among mainstream fans still seething from the $100 they forked over to watch the underwhelming ?Fight of the Century.?
Thurman-Porter didn?t put money back in fans? wallets, but that might have been the only disappointment about the clash. By a razor-thin 115-113 margin on all three judges? scorecards, Thurman captured a unanimous decision over Porter to retain his WBA belt in a bout that certainly will stand as one of the best of the year, if not the past several years.
To the roars of the crowd of 12,718, Porter and Thurman traded massive blows from the outset. Neither fighter was knocked down, but that metric isn?t remotely indicative of the brutal nature of the contest. It was a war.
Thurman (26-0-0, 22 knockouts), from Clearwater, Fla., landed a counter right hook late in the third, which helped him stabilize the contest after a fast start by Porter. From there, he survived 27 more minutes of pressure from the challenger and was able to land enough counter shots to earn the victory.
?I want to thank Shawn Porter for a tremendous fight,? Thurman said. ?He?s a great warrior. Defense is the key to victory. He smothers his punches a lot and makes it difficult for the judges to score. I was able to rock him with clear, effective blows, and I believe that was the difference today.?
Porter (26-1-1, 17 knockouts) applied pressure from the opening bell and had a particularly effective second round, landing multiple combinations with Thurman against the ropes. Porter frequently zeroed in on Thurman?s body, and the sustained attack appeared to take its toll.
