Devon Alexander Spars With Shawn Porter Ahead of Dec. 7 Barclays Bout

The ex junior welter champ and current IBF 147 pound titlist Devon Alexander and Shawn Porter, his foe at Barclays Center on Dec. 7, took part on a Tuesday conference call to hype the bout, which will run on Showtime.

The current IBF 147 pound champ Alexander beat Lee Purdy in his last outing, via TKO. He was asked about the fight with Amir Khan that was supposed to have taken place, and if he felt let down that there have been a few cancelled outings. He said he lets his team handle things and “everything happens for a reason.”

He was pressed on Khan, and why Khan didn’t grab that bout. Alexander said there are rumors why Khan pulled out, and he would have liked it, to prove his worth. He said he thinks Khan maybe thought he was too big of a risk. And about Porter? Alexander said he beat him as an amateur, at the Ohio State Fair, when he was about eight or nine years old, but his skills are “limited.” He remembers it, he said, because it was a big tourney.

Porter said he recalls fighting three one minute rounds with “pillows” on his fists. Now, he said, it is different, as they are both men.

Alexander was asked if this could be a signature win. He said he is getting better and better with each fight. He hurt his left hand in his last fight, but he is fully healed. Porter said he has way more than Alexander thinks and will show that on Dec. 7.

He was asked about sparring Manny Pacquiao, which he did before the Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley fights. He got rounds and experience, and fighting lefties, he said. Porter said he went toe to toe with Manny and in fact made him back up. Alexander said he doesn’t have a sparring partner mentality, in a slap at Porter.

Porter said Devon is the best he’s faced and that being called limited gives him confidence, because it’s possible he is being underestimated. “Devon is a good boxer,” he noted. He won’t try to box him early, because Devon is a slick boxer, but he thinks he’s more powerful than Alexander.

Alexander said he’s heard that before, many times, and actually thinks Porter’s power is limited.

Alexander said Porter brings toughness to the ring. “He’s going to be game, he’s not going to lay down, he’s going to be in shape. He has some skills, is a good boxer as amateur, you can’t take him lightly, and I’m going in like I’m fighting Floyd Mayweather.”

Porter said he doesn’t expect Devon, a St. Louis guy, to quit, and that it will be an exciting fight. Porter’s trainer, Ken Porter, piped up late in the call to bust on Alexander, for supposeldy quitting because of a cut during his bout with Timothy Bradley in January 2011. This late flurry from the heretofore silent trainer surprised everyone.

Friends, you have to like the experienced Alexander to get the W, right? Or will Porter rise to the occasion, a station above how he’s performed previously?

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