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NEW YORK -- It wasn't pretty. It may not have been completely legal. But former welterweight titlist Shawn Porter might have just booked himself a rematch with unified champion Keith Thurman.

Porter mauled Andre Berto from the opening bell and scored a pair of knockdowns en route to a ninth-round TKO victory in a 147-pound title eliminator Saturday at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. Porter (27-2-1, 17 KOs) became the No. 1 contender for Thurman's WBC title.

After the fight, Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) entered the ring and addressed the possibility of a rematch. He defeated Porter last June in their Fight of the Year candidate.

"[Porter's] team was adamant about the rematch and now he has fought his way to earn that," Thurman said. "We just need to sit down and talk about it. He's hungry, you see the way he fights, it could be a great fight again."

"I was just up here wishing he said yes -- that's the fight I want next," Porter said.

Porter's victory was as entertaining as it was sloppy, with a story that was simple: he forced Berto (31-5, 24 KOs) to fight at a distance and style he didn't want to and never relented throughout.

Porter, 29, dictated the pace and aggression as both fighters were cut over both eyes thanks to a series of head butts and forearm strikes. Porter repeatedly put his head down and plowed forward, mixing left hooks to the body with clubbing hooks. 

"I got to clean up those head butts," Porter said. "We tried to use the whole ring, but sometimes in the heat of the battle, I'm a fighter and Mr. Berto is a fighter as well, those head butts were just the two of us going in and fighting." 

Berto, whose cuts were repeatedly checked by the ringside doctors, began to fade late. In Round 8, he was cornered along the ropes and nearly stopped by a savage flurry of power shots.

In Round 9, Berto was on the business end of another accidental head butt from Porter and complained to referee Mark Nelson as Porter attacked to force a knockdown. Berto showed poor body language after reaching his feet and continued to complain as Porter swooped in. 

With Berto trapped in the ropes again, Nelson jumped in to call the fight at 2:31 of the round. 

"My intention is never to use my head as a weapon," Porter said. "This was a just very hard fought battle by both of us and I'm blessed to get the victory."

Berto, who was also knocked down late in Round 2 on an overhand right, fell to just 4-5 since 2010. 

"I have to give him credit, but he's a rough fighter," Berto said. "He has great skills but, at the same time, he's going to be rough and try to handle me anyway he can. I got a lot of head butts, and he did too. Shawn is a tough competitor.  We had a good, competitive fight until the head butts got to be a little too much for me."

Thurman, who outpointed Danny Garcia in their March unification bout, did a better job of handling Porter's mauling in their title bout last year, timing him with jabs and uppercuts on the way in. He was also more physical in pushing Porter back than Berto was. 

"Shawn was relentless in the fashion we know he can fight," Thurman said. "He had Berto's number. He was in great shape.

"Me and Berto are different fighters. There were a lot of headbutts, but I know to watch out for that. Berto is a little more flat footed than me and that played in Shawn's favor."

Porter outlanded Berto, 175 to 81, according to CompuBox, including 60 to 12 over the final two rounds.

"Shawn is a warrior. I am so proud of him. Berto is a warrior too, but we were blessed with the victory," Trainer and father Kenny Porter said. "We did what we had to do. Shawn was prepared physically, mentally and emotionally. We weren't leaving here without that belt. Shawn wanted to send a sign to everyone that he deserves that shot at the title and he is ready for it."