A Welterweight Champion Storms New York for the Ultimate Payday
Saturday’s meeting between Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter will be the biggest fight in Barclays Center history. But the real prize could a bout with Floyd Mayweather for the winner.
Shawn Porter, left, and Keith Thurman in Brooklyn this week ahead of their welterweight title fight Saturday night at Barclays Center. PHOTO: SHOWTIME
By
Alex Raskin
June 24, 2016 8:21 p.m. ET
For someone being chauffeured by private helicopter from lower Manhattan to rural Connecticut, WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (26-0-0) seemed impressively unaffected.
Ahead of Thurman’s title bout against Shawn Porter (26-1-1) at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Saturday night, the two fighters, their trainers, a photographer and a few public-relations staffers boarded a pair of choppers Wednesday morning for a series of interviews at ESPN’s studios in Bristol, Conn. But even as the view morphed from Midtown skyscrapers to mansions along the Long Island Sound, the loquacious 27-year-old Thurman remained engaged in conversation, paying only passing attention to the scenery, like someone accustomed to this mode of transportation.
The truth is that Thurman, despite his growing celebrity in boxing’s most exciting and talent-laden weight class, had only been in a helicopter once before—during a visit to the Grand Canyon. “Where I come from, toys are toys, money is money, and you take this stuff for what it is: a blessing,” he said, later adding that he still owns a 2012 Toyota Prius.
Keith Thurman flies over New York in a helicopter bound for Bristol, Conn., this week.PHOTO: SHOWTIME
In this way, Thurman is a dramatic departure from the supposedly retired, conspicuously opulent Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr., a man known to make unexpected appearances in Manhattan’s diamond district and drop six figures on baubles. Thurman heard Mayweather’s name throughout Wednesday’s promotional inquisition, but he can’t afford to look past Porter, a former champion in his own right. The winner of Saturday’s fight—by far the biggest that Barclays Center has ever hosted—has a chance to coax the undefeated Mayweather back into the ring for a historic payday.
“I do believe the winner of this fight has the potential to bring him out of retirement,” Thurman said of Mayweather, an opinion seconded by Porter Thursday at a pre-fight news conference.
Thurman doesn’t like discussing the “Mayweather shadow” that hangs over the welterweight division, but he has a shorter path to it than does Porter. (Mayweather didn’t respond to requests for comment.)
Two years ago, Porter suffered his only defeat at the hands of another undefeated welterweight, IBF champion Kell Brook. As Showtime boxing analyst Steve Farhood explained, a Porter win on Saturday would trigger a “ratings conundrum” at 147 pounds, while a Thurman victory would create a clearer picture.
“If Thurman beats Porter, based on the overall body of work, I’d probably rate Thurman No. 1, even though Brook beat Porter already,” Farhood said. “And then, of course, it depends how he beats him.”
The “how” in this case, if Thurman does win on Saturday, is what sets him apart. Whereas the steadfastly defensive Mayweather amassed a 49-0 record with just 26 knockouts, Thurman already has 22 knockouts in 26 fights, earning him the nickname “One Time.”
But while Thurman is known for his power, his style—inside the ring and out—is more nuanced than an ordinary slugger. A voracious reader and self-described Christian-Buddhist, Thurman’s musical hobbies (piano, flute) and meditation routine are balanced by an almost geometric approach to the sport.
Former IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter earned a decision over Adrien Broner last June to improve his record to 26-1-1. PHOTO: STEVE MARCUS/GETTY IMAGES
“Positioning is very important because you want to maximize the proper angle,” said Thurman. “Mike Tyson loved throwing hooks to the body and then coming up, even with the same hand… He knew that he was on the inside, and from there he had the perfect angle to come right up instead of going around the elbows.”
“He’s a thinking man’s man,” Farhood said of Thurman. “He’s clearly interested in a lot other than boxing, and that approach carries over to his boxing… He views boxing as a cerebral exercise in addition to a physical one.”
Thurman’s intellectual curiosity belies his abridged schooling. When he was 16, Thurman dropped out at the urging of legendary trainer Ben Getty. “At the age of 14, [Getty] was telling everybody, ‘This boy is gonna be champion,’” Thurman said of his mentor, who died in 2009. “Ben Getty knew boxing. Even if I didn’t believe in myself…he knew what he was talking about. For him to believe means I should believe it, too.”
By dropping out, Thurman was immediately able to devote himself to long days in the gym, where he sparred with such former stars as Jeff Lacy and Winky Wright. (He lovingly described the experience of being a 16-year-old incapable of escaping Wright’s jab).
After taking second at the 2008 Olympic Trials, Thurman turned pro and watched his purses climb from $12,000 to $125,000 as he began appearing on premium cable networks. “Sometimes it’s good to not have money,” he said, “because it does make you work a little harder.”
Now regularly fighting for seven figures, Thurman said the purchase he’s most passionate about these days is his new carbon-fiber bicycle, which he rides around Clearwater’s bridges.
Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman in Brooklyn.PHOTO: SHOWTIME
The son of an African-American father and a mother of Hungarian and Polish decent, Thurman’s eclectic nature extends to his fashion sense. On Wednesday, the ponytailed champion didn’t hesitate to tell anyone that he had purchased his outfit at Brooklyn’s Fulton Mall for less than $200. That included the shoes, which were seemingly blue velvet or suede and, as Thurman gleefully pointed out, matched some deep blue tones in the floral pattern of his new shirt.
It’s this kind of puckish charm that lends itself to the stage Thurman and Porter will get from CBS on Saturday night, when the network airs its first prime-time fight since Muhammad Ali lost to Leon Spinks in February of 1978. Fight fans who paid to see Mayweather’s tedious victory over an aged and possibly injured Manny Pacquiao in 2015 are now being rewarded with free boxing at the highest level.
“It’s pretty rare for two guys who are rated at the top of the division to fight each other,” Farhood said, echoing a complaint uttered by countless boxing fans.
The Thurman-Porter fight was initially set for March, but was delayed in February when Thurman suffered whiplash in an auto collision. He says he’s over the injury now and focused on the opportunity in front of him, which has the power to shape the remainder of his life.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m living a dream,” Thurman said Thursday. “I think about how I was raised by Ben Getty to this moment. Ben used to say that my moment was right around the corner, and now it’s here.”
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Damn I like both these dudes...but If I was Forced to place a bet on this fight I'd go with Thurman..I feel he has more versatility in his boxing game than porter..but in boxing all this can be true and you can STILL end up loosing but yeah..I pick Thurman in this one
