Fight of the Year: Thurman retains welterweight title via decision over Porter
Keith Thurman had to scratch and claw for 12 rounds but ultimately held on to his title in a hard-fought win over Shawn Porter
New York's favorite promotional son, Lou DiBella, was making the ringside rounds Saturday night.
And within moments of the bell that ended the welterweight main event between Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter, he summed up what anyone with fight sense should have known, too.
"If you didn't appreciate that fight," he said, "you don't love boxing."
Indeed, with 12 rounds of combat that revealed their toughness, athleticism and competitive heart, the two 147-pound 20-somethings effectively shoveled dirt onto the era of tedious promotional fencing and ushered in a new reality where maybe, just maybe, the fights will make themselves.
And maybe, just maybe, those fights will show up on network television, too.
In the first primetime main event on CBS air since Leon Spinks toppled Muhammad Ali, Thurman was awarded a unanimous 115-113 decision that saw all three judges giving him seven rounds to Porter's five, enabling him to maintain his hold on the WBA's welterweight championship belt.
(Our unofficial CBS Sports scorecards, which you can view in the live results below, agreed with the outcome with one at 115-113 and two at 116-112.)
But more importantly, both men immediately conceded -- to the thunderous approval of 12,718 fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn -- that getting together again was the best thing for all parties involved.
"I would do a rematch. It was a great fight. He's a great opponent," said Thurman, the 27-year-old native of Clearwater, Florida, who improved to 27-0 and defended his full-fledged title for the first time.
Porter was the audible favorite of a crowd that booed the decision, but he chose to embrace the idea of a return try rather than grousing too loudly about whether he'd won the first one.
The Akron, Ohio, native landed 236 overall punches to Thurman's 235, though the defending champion earned a 203-177 edge in power shots, which may have been what turned the judging tide.
"At the end of the day, I'm blessed. We worked hard, Keith is a great champion," Porter said. "My dad says to keep your head up. I think I won the fight, but I'm satisfied because the competitor came out tonight. We need that rematch. I know the fans want that rematch. If he gives me another chance, I'm going to work hard in the ring and leave with his title."
The guess is that few who saw it on television would argue with an encore, largely because what they came up with accurately illustrated the acumen of each fighter.
Thurman was able to jolt Porter with singular shots on multiple occasions, while Porter controlled the optics of several rounds simply by bullying the taller man to the ropes and grinding away with punches, forearms, elbows and whatever else was necessary.
Rounds 9 and 10 were consensus candidates for Round of the Year along press row; the former including a series of violent exchanges in mid-ring before taking the scrap to the ropes for the final minute, while the latter saw Thurman send a reeling Porter to the corner with a left hook only to wind up on the receiving end of a two-handed barrage in the final 30 seconds.
Thurman was down a point on one scorecard heading into the final three rounds, but won all three to ensure the unanimous nod. He was up a point heading into the 10th on a second card and was given two of the final three rounds -- while the third card had Thurman up three points heading into the stretch and gave Porter two of the final three rounds.
"I want to thank Shawn Porter for a tremendous fight, he's a great warrior," Thurman said. "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. It's all about defense. I had a great defense today."
It had been 38 years since the last primetime main event on CBS, but if Saturday night's action was any indication, it won't be nearly that long until the next one.
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