By Rocky Morales at ringside
IBF welterweight champion Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs) defeated WBC titlist “Showtime” Shawn Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs) by twelve round split decision firefight in a unification clash on Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
It was a back and forth battle through the first ten rounds with both landing punishing shots and as often to the body as to the head. Many rounds were so close they were difficult to score with Porter pressing the action and Spence seeming to throw more precise punches. A few of Spence’s punched strayed low and he was warned but not penalized.
Finally, in round eleven, the difference-maker was a counter left cross Spence perfectly landed that caused Porter to touch a glove to the canvas. Porter was visibly shaken but quickly rgained his feet and was not in danger of being stopped. It did seem to take all the wind out of Porter’s sails, however, and he didn’t show the same gusto following the knockdown.
Spence seemed to win round twelve to seal the deal in a close fight. Surprisingly, when the decision was announced, it was a split decision with scores all over the place. Judges scored it 116-111 Spence, 115-112 Porter and 116-111 Spence to make Spence the split decision winner.
Following the fight, former WBC welterweight champ Danny Garcia was brought into the ring, faced off with Spence and announced as Spence’s next opponent.
Porter was robbed
Yes he was but it was a great fight.
100% agree
WTF are you talking about. Not even. The robbery was the 116-111 card in his favor.
Am I wrong for thinking Porter won? I mean both fought great! Who did you think won?
Yes…Porter is overrated for sure. He is NOT the next coming like he’s hyped up to be.
Porter won that fight. He out muscled Spence throughout. It wasn’t a robbery, but the clear edge went to Porter.
It is not a muscling contest….it is called BOXING….get it?
I totally Agree with Donald, sadly most “fans” these days totally have either no understanding or no respect for the science of the sport of boxing. It is not about who is coming forward or who is muscling who in the clinches or on the ropes, its about boxing. That is a reason they hated on Floyd, well and Floyd was a bit of a trash talker and a bit flashy lol. Seriously though, just because one guy is the aggressor that doesn’t mean he should win the fight or win a close decision. The entire fight should be judged, ring generalship, defense, boxing skills, power shots etc. not just “hey this guy came to fight and pressed the action all night so he should win any fight that is even remotely thought to be a close decision” that is not how boxing judges are instructed to score a fight. I thought it was a great fight, but I thought Spence won the decision. I had it Spence by 3 points. Kudos for Spence, he took this fight that was a dangerous fight that many didn’t think was a smart move to fight a dangerous guy like Shawn. Respect to Porter, the guy is a top fighter and always comes and gives 100.
You are correct. And it’s called effective aggression
That’s about what I had it after watching it on you tube. Most agree Spence landed more punches. And the knockdown. Aggression can be misleading if you don’t focus on punches landed. I thought Spence showed some grit as he dealt with his toughest challenge. He took some good shots too. This fight could make him even better in the long run.
Spence keeps proving me right when I say he is one of the most overrated fighters in the sport.
Terrance Crawford, will Murder Errol. Facts
Hé fought terribly !!!
Porter got hit went down and lost last round
But the rest of the fight was all porter… so yeah I think u have a point on overrated
I was rooting for Porter, but cannot find a bad thing to say about either fighter. It is a shame that either guy had to loose that fight. They fought their hearts out.
I had Porter. Two scores of 116 – 111 Spence Jr are disgusting. Great fight though.
I saw Porter winning until my live stream disconnected.
Knockdown cost Porter the fight.
Good fight but Spence definitely won, Porter was mauling and smothering Spence with a few clean shots here and there but Spence was doing the most damage.
Exactly Ace! I rewatched and scored the fight 3 times and you can see that a LOT of the punches that Porter was throwing inside were being blocked by Spence, but the crowd was going crazy, that influences judges and obviously from the comments on here, even the diehard boxing fans. It was a great fight and Shawn Porter is one of those fighters that brings it every fight and he makes everyone look “off their game” and his fights are very hard to judge because of his awkward and wild style. I think if many rewatch the fight and use slow motion on a lot of those inside rallies by Porter, they will see that a lot of them were blocked and slipped but a lot got through. I’m in no way trying to knock Porter as he is one of the most exciting fighters in the game today and will give ANY fighter a rough night. I just think some want to see brawls and they go with the aggressor always, just like Ray Mancini when you listen to him, he will always favor the aggressor. Boxing is called that for a reason. It is not a toughman contest it is a sport of technique, defense and skill…not just power and aggression. It takes all styles and this was a great fight!!! I hope people continue to sleep on Errol. This was a fighter that it is hard to look good against but Errol almost had him out of there as those early body shots did damage and those were overlooked by most fans it seems.
All good points. Portersvstylenis just plain ugly. It reminds me some of the middle weight Mustafa hamsho from back in the 80s. Its ruff and tumble and just plain hard to watch. U vouldnatomach it a lil more if his father stfu
I have a ton of respect for Porter….MOST thought that he’d get smashed by Spence. And to me,Spence kind of got exposed,this small Porter,a man that most didn’t give a chance to. Especially the only comment leaving pundits,but Porter gave way more than most expected and deserves some cedit and respect. I’ll tell you what,I’m no longer thinking that Spence is what he’s been built up to be. He’s good yes,but for him to not be able to knock out Porter the way he bragged about doing. And didn’t stop super small Garcia,i think a more heavier hitting Welterweight would get to him. Porter stunned him tonight. But Porter is not a hard puncher and that’s what helped Spence out tonight. But i thought Spence won by a split decision but definitely not the way the judges had it. I had it MUCH closer. But what a great fight! Give Porter his credit people,especially all the ones that said Porter will be KO’d,have no chance and all of that.
Porter is not a small welterweight he fought in the amateurs as a middleweight that’s above welterweight, you can look that up Porters dad talked about the bigger fighters he fought as an amateur in the higher weight classes
I now think that if Pacquiao repeats his same performance like he did against Thurman, that he can beat Spence. I am 100% positive that Crawford would beat Spence, and I said that long before last night’s fight. There is a reason that Spence is fighting Swift Garcia next. He knows he will lose to Bud or Manny.
I saw a very uncomfortable Spence in there who threw a ton of low blows and got away with them and he was breathing hard from the pressure. Porter did a good job but damn he leaves himself too open when he swings and he still smothers his own punches. I still think he won but I was never really sold on Spence to begin with. He does well in the division because of his size. I think Crawford beats him and everyone else in that division but it is a dangerous fight for him against Spence due to his size but he is a master sharpshooter. Spence would not dominate at 154 but that division isn’t great anyway and he won’t do anything at 160 so he isn’t as great as everyone says. Damn good fighter but not what everyone says he is. Good fight.
If not for 11th round knock down, Porter win majority decision
Another fan friendly fight. Like last week with Angulo. Porter was taking it until the later rounds. Spence had more gas. The knock down did it. I don’t see Spence lasting for years after what I saw tonight. I even think Manny would give him problems, but maybe not win.
If you think that Porter won, you are not a boxing fan. At best e could beg for a draw…. The knockdown sealed his fate. his a very good fighter but Errol Spence is just a notch above him and proved it tonight.
The best I could give Porter would be 4 rounds and 2 of them were razor thin…I actually scored them even.
For once punch stat seemed to capture the truth on my eyes. Porter was out throwing Spence early, but Spence was still out landing him. By the end of the fight Spence was actually out throwing and definitely out landing.
I think some people thought that because Spence was fighting what appeared to be Porter’s fight that it meant he was losing. I think Spence chose to stand in, because he knew he was stronger if the two. Look at him in between rounds…he wasn’t breathing heavy and looked unconcerned.
I myself didn’t see Spence win, that knockout only gives Spence a 2 point advantage, Spence is overated, he’s not as good as he thinks, and Porter expose him tonight.
Yep. Porter`s style is plain ugly to watch. And it is not boxing. He’d make a good MMA fighter with all the wild swinging, holding, headbutting, and brash talking.
“Following the fight, former WBC welterweight champ, Danny Garcia, was brought into the ring, faced off with Spence and announced as Spence’s next opponent.”
Why? The guy has already lost to two other division studs, without building himself back up since. Why does he get Spence next? Guess Pac turned it down, and PBC is still pretending Crawford doesn’t exist of course
Lamont Peterson lost a decision to Danny Garcia, but was walking him down and hitting him with bombs in the championship rounds. Close fight though.
But….. Errol Spence legitimately beat Peterson. No way Garcia can handle Errol Spence.
Styles make fights.
Did you notice that too? PBC is a joke.
Haha nice try. Pac didn’t “turn it down” he ran for the fences…..again. He doesn’t want to see Spence and thats a fact. Pac is probably looking to fight Garcia or Jessie Vargas.
Yeah, but Pacquiao might change his mind if he watched last night’s fight
Bcs danny garcia is in the fold of pbc and al haymon. Crawford foolishly signed with Arum
Washed up or whatever anyone thinks a manny/spence fight is the biggest money fight out there right now other than the Joshua rematch. Or Lomachenko vs Davis or Haney. Only a fool promoter would not make a manny p. fight.
I had it 114:113 in favor of Porter. In many ways, he was the winner of this fight and he proved most people (incl. myself) wrong. I had predicted a UD win by Spence, but I don’t feel that it was a fair decision. This fight should have been scored a draw or UD by Porter – he dictated what was happening in the ring for most of the rounds.
He was aggressive but it wasn’t effective aggressiveness
Spence’s left hook saves the day.. but Porter’s fast hands will surely relieve in everyone’s memory.
relive
People really think Porter won a Boxing Match because he was rougher?
That’s what im saying?! it was a great fight, but Spence clearly won at least 7-8 rounds (including the knockdown). If people truly watched boxing as they claim to do, they’ll see pretty much all of Porter’s fights look like this. Rough and tumble fights in which Porter is trying to smother and maul his opponents with activity and pressure.
You are correct. Unless he can physically overpower u as he did to a smallish Berto/Malinaggi he don’t known what to do as in the brook fight and this one. And his style is plain ugly to watch
Why do people keep saying stuff like if you clearly watch boxing or if love the sport etc. Just people like a different aspect of the sport doesn’t make them any less of a fan or less knowledgeable. You won’t tell someone they don’t know or is not a true football fan because they prefer a power running game to a high flying passing attack.
Because people who watch the sport would’ve told that Porter was not an easy fight and would give Spence a legit challenge. You dudes are on here calling Spence overrated because you CLEARLY weren’t aware about Porter’s ability. It’s pretty obvious with some of these half ass analysts on these threads out here.
I gave Porter 5 rounds, some were close, but the knockdown sealed the deal.
Interesting. I thought Yordenis Ugas beat Porter in his last fight, but felt he edged Spence tonight. Spence better think twice about moving up and taking on the big boys.
I had it much wider for Spence, but I had two rounds even. Porter made it ugly, but Spence was just more accurate throughout. Ultimately, I could only give Porter 2 rounds, but if you want to give the 2 even rounds to Porter, then 116 to 111 is on the nose.
Quick praises: these 2 took some shots tonight and with the exception of the knockdown late neither was in big trouble. Spence didn’t even seem winded.
I thought the 116-111 card in favor of Spence was the correct score. The decision should have been unanimous for Spence. Porter gave a great account of himself and Spence fought in the trenches a little too much. However, Porter forced him into it and he did enough to win.
Porter is a tough customer in the ring and is hard to handle when he’s mixing his bull rushes with feints and boxing. He’s got a pretty good left jab and Spence never did establish his jab in this fight. The body punches won the fight for him along with some clean head shots and the flash knockdown.
It was a good fight, but Porter usually makes a fight an ugly one to watch because of his mauling tactics. He was able to mix in those tactics with a lot of punching as well.
Spence needed this fight on his resume and was able to get through it. Crawford is in his future, but it appears Danny Garcia may be the next opponent. I don’t really care. Spence needs to get in the ring often so he can stay sharp. It was a good learning experience for him tonight but he won and that’s all that matters. Now on to bigger and better things.
Great fight, had to Spence winning 7-8 rounds (including the knockdown). If you had Porter winning this fight, excuse me if I don’t trust your opinion when it comes to boxing. Pretty much all of Porter’s fights look like this. Rough and tumble fights in which Porter tries to smother and maul his opponents with activity and pressure. Being a rougher fighter does not mean you won the fight lol. In addition, to the people saying Spence is “overrated”, I ‘m willing to bet some of you thought Mikey was gonna beat Spence too. It’s okay to give someone credit, trust me, it won’t kill you.
Dude, literally nobody picked Mikey Garcia to beat dispensed. Whether or not he lost or won against Porter last night, he didn’t show a great skill set to avoid bum rushes and he didn’t look like a pound for pound fighter in there. I think that is what most people are saying. Spence is not in the conversation for the top five in boxing and that is just a fact that you obviously cannot deal with. He’s not even the best welterweight in the world. You will have to be Crawford in order to do that and I’mnot certain that he beats Manny at this point. He doesn’t respond well to somebody coming at him very quickly.
Once again, proving my point. NOBODY LOOKS GOOD AGAINST PORTER’S STYLE. Porter literally looks he same win, lose, or draw. It’s a hard style to defend against for ANYBODY! The hell are you dudes talking about? So Spence is overrated because he didn’t beat Porter the way you believe he should have? Anybody that’s been tuned into boxing over the past 6-7 will tell you that Porter is a dog who brings it every time. And your dumbass had the nerve to type out this lazy nonsensical gibberish. Go back to the drawing board and try again rookie.
Spence isn’t overrated, Porter was just ON tonight. Sure his chin is exposed and his punch delivery isn’t lights out, but you can tell his team had a game plan tonight. They executed. He put hands on Spence, ate his best shots, and even after slowing down in the later rounds and getting dropped, he still fought on like a World Champion. Any Welter in the last 15 years would have had a rough night with Porter. I wasn’t a Porter fan and I’m still not but you gotta respect that work he out in tonight. World Class preparation and World Class effort. And please don’t sleep on Spence’s body work. Sure Spence got roughed up. But his coach is legit, they already knew Porter would come in rough. Spence had a game plan. Why do you think Porter slowed in the 2nd half of the fight? Eating too many body shots. No one is tough to the body all night. Pac? Doubt it. But that’s a whole diff story. Don’t sleep on Pac either because that man is approaching All Time status.
It’s what i expected. Porter coming in making it difficult as hell as usual.. Spence coming on later on. It could have been a draw but Spence got the close decision.. I knew porter wasn’t going to get stopped.. I can see why people thought porter won but if it was that close they were not going to give it to porter and take away Spence 0 that easy. Porter needed a knockdown at least for that. Good fight though.. I’ll watch it again later on.
Porter won 8-4, if not 9-3. Spence is “average” at best. Spence’s team bought this garbage decision.
This was the result I expected, i.e. Spence by decision with Porter (who is a challenge for anyone) having his moments. As with many fighters, Spence looked like a killer when he was building his record against weaker people but at the top level, people are more durable and hit back with determination. He is a very good fighter but it is by no means clear that he can clean out the division.
— As expected the fight a great one needing late theatrics to semi-seal it for Spence who was the A side as The Chosen One.
The fighter exceeded the so called fans and the officials still using the out-dated 10 pt must system. No other pro sport has such a muddy scoring system.
What would be a better way to score? I remember the days when some states scored using the rounds system-very unfair since winning a close round scored the same as winning a round by a large margin.
I am sure some of you Porter fans think he won because he did the same thing every round…..hit, hug, wing punches, get sloppy, and hope for the best- typical bar room bare knuckle fighting tactic. Spence made the fight harder for himself by playing into Porter’s game. However, I found it odd Porter was backing up many of those rounds and he is the shorter fighter. Either way you slice it, Porter lost and he can get back to the end of the line and wait another turn or drift off into the sunset. Porter’s style is always so predictable, messy, and anymore, rarely knocks anyone out. I will not miss him.
Excellent assessment. Never cared for caveman Porter or his Leon Spinks style. Rushing in and winging punches is an ugly, unrefined style which reflects who Porter is. Spence far better and he proved it.
Tell these dudes again bro!
Even though he lost, Shawn Porter should feel very good about himself. He did much better than expected.
Looks like I’m about to eat some crow here. I’d posted on another thread that I thought that Porter would pull out the 10 to 1 upset.
I guess I was wrong but not by much. Spence didn’t look like the next GOAT in his victory but it is extremely hard to look “good” against Porter. The “awkward” boxer is the hardest to train and plan for and Porter could pen his own chapter in that playbook.
He is an absoloute PIT-BULL!
People are quick to use Spence’s lack of dominance here to point to his inferiority to Crawford. I think Crawford or any other top Welter would have had their hands equally full!
Congrats to Spence and his team.
To Me, a far more compelling and competitive match-up would be Porter vs. Pacqioua instead of Spence.
I guess we’ll see what’s next.
I want to see pac Spence next. Pac would beat him imo
PBC will continue to duck Crawford. So much for real boxing now its like WRESTLING
Agreed. Based on what was seen last night, Crawford’s switch hitting and footwork will get the job done. There’s too much politics preventing the best from fighting the best. The PBC is following the UFC’s model and is trying to lock in everything for themselves. The should just make their own belts.
I think sooner rather than later we need to discuss the HOF for Shawn Porter, how many dog fights and highlight reels does he need, especially after 5 more fights, but this is the first real step.
Great fight lets honor the rematch clause and lets bring the new years in with a bang. The fight fans will be up for the rematch and by May we the fight fans will want to see TBC vs Pac or Truth vs Pac or Bud vs Spence. Mr. Arum quit holding Terrance Bud Crawford back we the fight fans wants to see a great fighter of this era. Canelo vs GGG the fans want to see in March. Dazn TMT Goldenboy Top Rank needs to unifie all of the belts in every weigth class and the champs takes on all challengers.
Great fight. I was surprised. In either direction, the fight was not won by more than 2 points. After watching it for the third time, you can give it to Spence 114-112 or 13. If Porter would have gotten the decision, no one could say robbery. Rounds 6 through 10 were harder to score than the announcers made it seem.
I thought Porter won. I had Porter winning the first 4 rounds. The PBC announcers are all shills. The punch counter graphic they have is bullshit…always inaccurate. The low blows Spence got away with made me think of Ward-Kovalev 2.
It was an amazing fight that could have gone both ways. In the end, the knockdown proved too much. I think Porter should fight Crawford. I think TC is the number 1 guy in the welterweight division but he really needs to fight one of the guys who are fighting each other. That would be Thurman, Garcia, Porter, Spence or Pac. Those guys have fought at least one of the other with Thurman fighting everyone except Spence. If TC wants to remain #1 he needs to fight these young lions.
Porter will always be a tough out for anyone, except Crawford. Crawford would keep twisting and turning him. And i seriously doubt anyone would truly say Porter is the `A` side of any PPView. Also, I just can’t imagine either Porter or Spence being live against a prime Mayweather, Cotto, Trinidad, DeLa Hoya, Mosley, or Forrest.
Can I add that Spence didnt get the KO and he got exposed in some of the Rounds
For the last week or so it was impossible to post anything on this site? I don’t know what is going on with fightnews but I hope they know what is going on with their site.
Now we got to witness a very good strong fight. Like I mentioned in another post last week, 9 to 1 odds against Porter was crazy, and I said Spence will be pushed to his limit. I had Porter winning the fight, I will say though that it was a give and take fight, and some of the rounds were hard to call. If PBC wants to remain in this business they better recognize that there are other fighters out there besides their so called champions. Crawford and Pac for sure are pros, and need to be respected. Porter took a page out of the Arron Pryor book, always staying on top of Spence like a cheap suit, and no matter what the announcers would have you believe, it was Porter that made Spence fight his (Porters) fight. I’d like also to point out that Spence was in some ways exposed, not that he did not put on a great show, but was lacking in a plan B against a hurricane like Porter. I believe Porter should be granted a rematch and I also believe that this division really needs to unify completely all the belts, because at this point it’s getting very muddy who will be the undisputed champ, my candidates are Crawford, Pac, and Danny Garcia yes Danny because he has fought the best competition in this division, and unless these fighters REMAIN ACTIVE,the entire division will not gain respect by the fans. It will become just another WWE division in boxing, PBC really needs to up there game. As does the Delaho.
this was boxing? really? more like a fight bar .. Spence, Crawford are overrated… Porter isn’t even a boxer
The rounds were close, but Spence won the majority and deserved a comfortable unanimous decision. People expect the scores to be close just because the fight was close, but Spence was the most effective especially to the body. If a fighter narrowly wins all the rounds then they deserve to win all the rounds. Porter brung the excitement and won the people over. Porter is underrated not Spence overrated.