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The Hauser Report: Shawn Porter Ekes Out a Win Over Danny Garcia
Showtime televised a triple-header from Barclays Center on September 8 headlined by Shawn Porter versus Danny Garcia for the vacant WBC 147-pound title.
Showtime televised a triple-header from Barclays Center on September 8 headlined by Shawn Porter versus Danny Garcia for the vacant WBC 147-pound title. That belt became available when Keith Thurman, who narrowly decisioned both Porter (2016) and Garcia (2017), was forced to relinquish his title due to injury-induced inactivity.
Porter, who will turn 31 on October 7, had amassed a 28-2 (17 KOs) ring record in ten years as a pro. He won the IBF 147-pound belt in 2014 with a fourth-round knockout of Paulie Malignaggi, but lost it by majority decision to Kell Brook in his next outing. Since then, he had defeated Erick Bone, Adrien Broner, Andre Berto, and Adrian Granados but dropped a decision to Thurman.
Garcia (now 34-2 with 20 KOs) is seven months younger than Porter. He rose to prominence with an upset knockout of Amir Khan in 2012 that earned him the WBA and WBC 140-pound belts. One year later, he solidified his standing with a decision over Lucas Matthysse. His most formidable test came on March 3, 2017, when he lost a split decision to Thurman.
Porter and Garcia are trained by their fathers. But there’s a significant difference in the way that plays out. Kenneth Porter maintains a dignified public profile, while Angel Garcia often comes across as a boorish provocateur. Neither trainer was onstage for the July 30 kick-off press conference in New York or the final pre-fight press conference on September 6. In part, that was because the promotion wanted to avoid the type of racist homophobic rant that Angel has engaged in under similar circumstances in the past.
Initially, Kenneth Porter sought to emphasize the similarities between the fighters’ camps, noting, “All of us in the trenches in boxing come from the same place.” Pressed for more, he then said of Angel, “He has a kid that can fight. He’s a great fighter, but the father has never been on my radar. He never sat in on some of the courses that I took. He was never on the national teams I went up against or the international competitions. So that isn’t something that I’m concerned with.”
When asked about his relationship with Angel, Danny volunteered the tidbit, “Me and my dad go to strip clubs together. We throw money together.” Later, he added, “We’re not looking at it like your dad versus my dad. This is just Team Garcia versus his team. That’s how we always look at it.”
As for the fight itself, Shawn declared, “It will be action-packed and exciting. It always is when I fight.”
“I just feel like I’m the better fighter,” Danny countered. “And that’s it.”
There was an announced crowd of 13,058 at Barclays Center on fight night.
The first televised bout of the evening on Showtime was a heayweight match-up between Charles Martin (25-1, 23 KOs) and Adam Kownacki (17-0, 14 KOs).
Martin age 32, is on the short list of least impressive heavyweight beltholders ever. Two years ago, he fought Vyacheslav Glazkov for the vacant IBF title. Forty-eight seconds into round three, Martin stepped with his lead foot onto Glazkov’s lead foot and Vyacheslav went down awkwardly. Seconds later, as Glazkow was throwing a right to the body, he tumbled to the canvas and rose, limping bady. At that point, without a meaningful punch having been landed, the fight was stopped. A subsequent examination revealed that Glazkov’s anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) had been torn clean through. Twelve weeks later, Martin fought Anthony Joshua in London for a wheelbarrow full of money and was knocked out in the second round. Other than Joshua, he has never fought a world-class opponent.
Kownacki, age 29, is a big, tough, often-out-of-shape fighter whose management has cherry-picked opponents from the list of usual suspects. He seems most comfortable in the ring when brawling. While he isn’t a big puncher, he takes a good punch. And the damage from his blows adds up. He wears down opponents over the course of a bout.
Kownacki weighed in to face Martin at 263-1/4 pounds, his most ever for a fight. Martin tipped the scales at 246. The 7-to-5 odds in Adam’s favor reflected the view that, while Martin might hit harder, Kownacki was mentally stronger and had the better chin.
It was a sloppy spirited action bout, entertaining and inartfully fought. Both men fought as though they didn’t know much about defense. Or if they did, they couldn’t put it into practice. Both fighters looked tired as early as round three, although Kownacki seemed ready to fight at the start of each stanza while Martin invariably looked as though he could use another thirty seconds of rest.
All three judges scored the contest 96-94 for Kownacki, which was a bit more generous to Martin that the action called for. Adam will now move toward a more lucrative fight while Martin slides further toward opponent status.
Kownacki-Martin was followed by a WBC welterweight “title elimination bout” between Yordenis Ugas and Cesar Barrionuevo. That encounter devolved into twelve rounds of boredom marked by jeers and boos from the crown and ended in a 120-108, 120-108, 119-109 decision for Ugas.
Then came Garcia-Porter.
Porter, a 3-to-2 underdog, looked sluggish in the early going. The swarming aggression that normally characterizes his ring style wasn’t there. One reason for that might have been effective counterpunching from Garcia, who also managed to hold and tie Shawn up whenever Porter got inside. The action heated up in the second half of the fight when Shawn began fighting with more intensity.
It was a hard bout to score with the judges in agreement on only four of twelve rounds (round 1 for Garcia; rounds 4,6, and 7 for Porter). That led to a 116-112, 115-113, 115-113 verdict in Porter’s favor. This writer scored the fight even at 114-114.
One gets the sense that Porter will use his victory over Garcia to press for a fight against an elite opponent; possibly Errol Spence. “When you have a belt, Shawn has said, “everything comes to you. This is what I do, and I love it.”
Photo credit: Tom Casino / SHOWTIME
Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at thauser@rcn.com. His next book – Protect Yourself at All Times – will be published by the University of Arkansas Press this autumn. In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism.
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Emanuel Navarrete and Rafael Espinoza Shine in Phoenix
PHOENIX – Saturday was a busy night on the global boxing scene, and it’s quite likely that the howling attendees in Phoenix’s Footprint Center witnessed the finest overall card of the international schedule. The many Mexican flags on display in the packed, scaled down arena signaled the event’s theme.
Co-main events featured rematches that arose from a pair of prior crowd-pleasing slugfests. Each of tonight’s headlining bouts ended at the halfway point, but that was their only similarity.
Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete, now 39-2-1 (32), defended his WBO Junior Lightweight belt with a dramatic stoppage of more-than-willing Oscar Valdez, 32-3 (24). The 29-year-old champion spoke of retirement wishes, but after dominating a blazing battle in which he scored three knockdowns, his only focus was relaxing during the holidays then getting back to what sounded like long-term business.
“Valdez was extremely tough in this fight,” said Navarrete. “I knew I had to push him back and I did. You are now witnessing the second phase of my career and you can expect great things from me in 2025.”
“I don’t really know about the future,” said the crestfallen, 33-year-old Valdez. “No excuses. He did what he wanted to and I couldn’t.”
Navarrete, a three-division titlist, came up one scorecard short of a fourth belt in his previous fight last May, a split decision loss to Denys Berinchyk. This was Navarrete’s fourth Arizona appearance so he was cheered like a homeboy, but Valdez was definitely the crowd favorite, evident from the cheers that erupted as both fighters were shown arriving in glistening, low rider automobiles.
Both men came out throwing huge shots, but it was Navarrete who scored a flash knockdown in the first round, setting the tone for the rest of the fight. There was fierce action in every frame, with Navarrete getting the best of most of it, but even when he was in trouble Valdez roared back and brought the crowd to their feet. He got dropped again at the very end of round four, and Navarrete sent his mouthpiece into orbit the round after that.
When Navarrette drove Valdez into the ropes during round six it looked like referee Raul Caiz, Jr was about to intervene, but before he could decide, Navarrete finished matters himself with a perfect left to the ribs that crumpled Valdez into a KO at 2:42.
“He talked about getting ready to retire soon so I told him we had to fight again right now,” said Valdez prior to the rematch. There were numerous “be careful what you wish for” type predictions of doom and he entered the ring at around a two to one underdog, understanding the contest’s make or break stakes. “Boxing penalizes you if you have a lot of losses,” observed Valdez. “It’s not like other sports where you can lose and do better next season. In boxing, most people don’t want to see you again after a couple of losses.”
What Valdez might decide remains to be seen, but even in defeat he proved to be a warrior worth watching.
Co-Feature
After their epic, razor-close encounter almost exactly a year ago, it was obvious Rafael Espinoza, and fellow 30-year-old Robeisy Ramirez should meet again for the WBO featherweight title belt Espinoza earned by an upset majority decision. Espinoza turned the trick again this time around, inside the distance, but it was more anti-climactic than anything like toe-to-toe.
The 6’1” Espinoza, now 26-0 (22), was the aggressor from the opening frame, but 5’6” Ramirez, 14-3 (9) employed his short stature well to stay out of immediate danger and countered to the body for a slight edge. The Cuban challenger avoided much of their previous firefight and initially controlled the tempo. The crowd jeered him for staying away but it was an effective strategy, at least at first.
Espinoza connected much better in the fifth round and looked fresher as Ramirez’s face rapidly reddened. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere in round six, Ramirez took a punch then raised a glove in surrender. Whatever the reason, even looking at Ramirez’s swollen right eye, it looked like a “No Mas” moment. Replays showed a straight right to the eye socket, but that didn’t stop the crowd from hooting their disgust after ref Chris Flores signaled the end at 0:12.
***
Richard Torrez, Jr, now 12-0 (11), displayed his Olympic silver medal pedigree in a heavyweight bout against Issac Munoz, 18-2-1 (15). Torrez, 236.6, found his punching range quickly with southpaw leads as Munoz, 252, tried to stand his ground but looked hurt by early body work that forced him into the ropes. He was gasping for breath as Torrez peppered him in the second, and Munoz went back to his corner on unsteady legs.
Munoz’s team should have thought about saving him for another day in the third as he ate big shots. Luckily, referee Raul Caiz, Jr. was wiser and had seen enough, waving it off for a TKO at 0:59.
“I don’t train for the opponent,” reflected Torrez, who isn’t far from true contender status. “Every time I train, I train for a world championship fight.”
***
Super-lightweight Lindolfo Delgado, 139.9, improved to 22-0 (16), and took another step into the world title picture against Jackson Marinez, now 22-4 (10), 139.2.
On paper this junior welterweight matchup appeared fairly even, and Marinez managed to keep it that way for almost half the scheduled ten rounds against a solid prospect but Delgado kept upping the ante until Marinez was out of chips. The assembled swarm was whistling for more action after three tentative opening frames, as Delgado loaded up but couldn’t put much offense together.
That changed in the 4th when Delgado connected with solid crosses. In the fifth, a fine combination dropped Marinez into a delayed knockdown and a wicked follow-up right to the guts finished the wobbly Marinez, who had nothing to be ashamed of, off in the arms of ref Wes Melton. Official TKO time was 2:13.
In a matter of concurrent programming, Saturday also held a lot of highly publicized college football and basketball games which likely detracted from the larger mainstream audience and media coverage this fight card deserved. That’s a shame but you can’t fault boxing, Top Rank, or any of the fighters for that because, once again, they all came through big time in Phoenix.
Photos credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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A change of champions took place as Richardson Hitchins rallied from a lethargic start to wrest the IBF super lightweight title from Australia’s Liam Paro by split decision on Saturday in Puerto Rico at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan.
Brooklyn has another world champion.
“I’m just happy to be a world champion,” Hitchins said.
Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) proved that his style of fighting could prevail over Paro (25-1, 15 KOs) who had previously knocked off another Puerto Rican champion, Subriel Matias.
Both fighters expected a different kind of encounter as Paro immediately started the fight with constant pressure and short, precise combinations. Hitchins had expected a different attack and seemed hesitant to pull the trigger.
“I couldn’t get my timing,” said Hitchins. “I thought he was going to put the pressure on me.”
Soon Hitchins ramped up his attack.
After Paro had jumped ahead with a constant strategic attack, Hitchins slipped into second gear behind a sharp right counter that found the target repeatedly.
Things began to swing in the Brooklyn fighter’s favor.
Those long arms came in handy for Hitchins who snapped off deadeye rights through Paro’s guard repeatedly. Soon the southpaw Aussie’s eye began to show signs of damage.
But Paro never quit.
Aside from using quick counters, Paro began firing lead lefts and the occasional right hook and uppercut. But seldom did he target the body. Slowly, the rounds began mounting in favor of the Brooklyn fighter.
Perhaps the best blow of the fight took place in the ninth round as Hitchins connected flush with a one-two combination. Though stunned, Paro trudged forward looking to immediately counter.
He mostly failed.
Still, Paro knew the rounds were not one-sided and he could close the distance. The Aussie fighter did well in the 11th and 12th round but could not land a significant blow. After 12 rounds one judge saw Paro the winner 117-11, while two others saw Hitchins the winner 116-112 for the new IBF titlist.
“He’s a hell of a boxer,” said Paro who loses the title in his first defense. “It’s not a loss, it’s a lesson.”
Other Bouts
A battle between Puerto Rican featherweights saw Henry Lebron (20-0) out-battle Christopher Diaz-Velez by decision after 10 action-packed rounds.
In a lightweight fight Agustin Quintana (21-2-1) gave Marc Castro (13-1) his first loss to win by split decision after 10 rounds.
Welterweight Jose Roman Vazquez (14-1) defeated Jalil Hackett (9-1) by split decision after 10 rounds.
Photo credit: Melina Pizano / Matchroom
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A Six-Pack of Undercard Action from the Top Rank Card in Phoenix
Top Rank promoted a 10-fight card tonight at the NBA arena in Phoenix. The undercard included welterweight standout Giovani Santillan and a bevy of young prospects.
Based on his showing tonight, Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez is a prospect on the cusp of being a contender. A high-octane fighter with ring smarts that bely his tender age, the 22-year-old Gonzalez pitched a near 8-round shutout over Argentina’s Gerardo Antonio Perez, advancing his record to 12-0 (7). Although Gonzalez was forced to go the distance after five straight wins by stoppage, Perez, an Argentine who had never been stopped and was better than his 12-6-1 record, had a granite chin.
LA junior bantamweight Steven Navarro improved to 5-0 (4 KOs) with a second-round stoppage of Gabriel Bernardi (7-2). Navarro had Bernardi, a Puerto Rican, on the canvas twice before referee Raul Caiz Jr waived it off.
In a welterweight contest slated for “10,” Giovani Santillan improved to 33-1 (18 KOs) at the expense of Fredrick Lawson who retired on his stool after only one round. It was a nice confidence-booster for Santillan who took a lot of punishment in his last fight vs. Brian Norman Jr, a fight that Santillan was expected to win. However, tonight’s win should come with an asterisk as Lawson, a Chicago-based Ghanaian, is damaged goods and ought not be permitted to fight again, notwithstanding his 30-6 record. (All six of his losses, including the last three, came inside the distance.)
In a welterweight contest slated for six rounds, 19-year-old SoCal prospect Art Berrera Jr advanced to 7-0 (5 KOs) with a second-round TKO over Juan Carlos Campos (4-2) who fights out of Sioux City, Iowa. Referee Wes Melton lost his balance as he stepped in to stop the one-sided affair with a nano-second remaining in round two and went flying into the ropes, but was seemingly unhurt.
In a major surprise, Cesar Morales, a former Mexican national amateur champion, lost his pro debut to unheralded Kevin Mosquera, a 23-year-old Ecuadorian. A flash knockdown in the opening minute of final round factored into the result. The judges had it 39-36 and 38-37 for Mosquera (3-0-1) and 38-38.
The night did not start well for Morales’ trainer Robert Garcia who had five fighters in action tonight.
In the lid-lifter, 21-year-old Las Vegas lightweight DJ Zamora, a protege of the late Roger Mayweather, improved to 15-0 (10 KOs) with a second-round stoppage of Argentine import Roman Ruben Reynoso (22-6-2). Zamora put Reynoso on the canvas in the opening round with a left to the solar plexus and knocked him down in the second round with a counter left to the chin. Reynoso made it to his feet, but had no beef when the fight was waived off. The official time was 1:56 of round two.
Bouts involving former Olympians Lindolfo Delgado and Richard Torres Jr plus two compelling world title rematches round out the 10-fight card. TSS correspondent Phil Woolever is ringside. Check back later for his post-fight reports.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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