Keith Thurman Breaks Down Championship Matchup of Former Foes Danny Garcia & Shawn Porter
*NEW YORK *(September 4, 2018) – Welterweight World Champion Keith Thurman
has an acute understanding of what it takes to beat Danny Garcia and Shawn
Porter. The undefeated, former unified champion edged both fighters in
blockbuster matchups and will be watching intently from ringside at
Barclays Center as the two face off for the WBC Welterweight World
Championship Thurman vacated due to injury.
The reigning WBA 147-pound champion, Thurman defeated Porter via unanimous
decision in a 2016 Fight of the Year candidate (FULL FIGHT VIDEO:
s.sho.com/2MAUoNH
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and narrowly beat Garcia via majority decision in 2017 (FULL FIGHT VIDEO:
s.sho.com/2MZB6kA
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). The matchups were so closely contested that both fights would have been
ruled draws if a single round were scored differently.
Thurman spoke with SHOWTIME Sports® Hall of Fame analyst Steve Farhood to
break down what he calls “one of the best matchups of the year” in seven
key categories – punching power, physical strength, defense, speed, boxing
ability, ring IQ and chin.
See below for Thurman’s analysis of the showdown of consensus top-5
welterweights, which airs this Saturday live on SHOWTIME.
*PUNCHING POWER:* *Edge GARCIA*: “Danny can punch with both hands. He does
load up, so you can’t be right there in front of him.”
*PHYSICAL STRENGTH:* *Edge PORTER*: “Shawn is clearly the more physical
fighter.”
*DEFENSE: **Edge GARCIA*: “Porter’s defense is his offense. With Danny,
I’ve never seen anyone so willing to just stare at me without throwing a
punch. He’s committed to being second, a pure counterpuncher.”
*SPEED:* *Edge PORTER*: “Shawn is faster and a little more athletic. He’ll
triple on the jab to get inside and use stutter-steps. Danny’s real
relaxed, but that doesn’t necessarily come through in his hand speed.”
*BOXING ABILITY:* *Edge GARCIA*: “Neither one is known for boxing. Danny’s
a counterpuncher, and Shawn outworks you. Danny has nice boxing movement
when he wants to be evasive. He’s underrated when on his back foot. We saw
that against (Lucas) Matthysse and (Brandon) Rios.”
*RING IQ: **EVEN:* “Hard to judge. These are two world champions with
tremendous amateur pedigrees.”
*CHIN:* *EVEN*: “In my fights, Porter took more big punches than Garcia
did. I had to hit hard to keep Porter off me. They both have enough power
to hurt each other.”
*PREDICTION:* “This is one of the best matchups of the year. I try not to
overthink it. It’s Porter by decision or Garcia only by KO. I lean toward
PORTER.”
The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® telecast begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
and features a welterweight title eliminator between Yordenis Ugas and
Cesar Barrionuevo and heavyweight action that pits unbeaten Polish slugger
Adam Kownacki against former heavyweight champion Charles Martin.
Undercard streaming coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on SHOWTIME
CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING COUNTDOWN as five-division world champion Amanda
Serrano attempts to win a world title in her record sixth weight class when
she faces Yamila Esther Reynoso for the WBO 140-pound title.
Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by TGB Promotions and DiBella
Entertainment, in association with DSG Promotions, start at $50 and are on
sale now. Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com
<r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0015GRIjGcLsAM1wrUx6VOY7cKMDaFWp_t_kx6oj7RTDEYXb01i-Fydo5lk0OQ7xCnIjtMGSjfL7isLWSssX0FCIjdkR2l9KihGLfvpN7AvADZrhfUtxUKafhzqOeM6hdIBp6cDRPnKfUb6Jqi0jJHOUqzA92NiGnKVmfiM9g6oTxI=&…>
, barclayscenter.com
<r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0015GRIjGcLsAM1wrUx6VOY7cKMDaFWp_t_kx6oj7RTDEYXb01i-Fydozf2BX85EvsmnroXkliQWQmGPJu9AmJAxZ6xsU6_EPcMcnHMWFYOXvjCLP1FPUumdnniDKR4iLx_W6BhMaUH_qZUhqG0lVYM6GqAutQ3pcxs4WrKWebwuEFk0…>,
or by calling 800-745-3000. Tickets can also be purchased at the American
Express Box Office at Barclays Center. Group discounts are available by
calling 844-BKLYN-GP.
