DSG V Showtime [Vol.III]: Game of Throes

They might as well be classic heavyweights. Kings are crowned there, as if a running anthology in a medieval series you may have seen on HBO in a complicated game of who’s the best. Within the deepest and most glamorous division in the sweet science, I look at “Showtime” Shawn Porter (28-2, 17KOs;)..

..and see a new age Leon Spinks up against a young Latin Zora Folley in Danny “Swift” Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs. 

Both of them were gangsters. 

If we’re really lucky this Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (LIVE on SHOWTIME 9pm/ET) we’ll get a modern Mike Tyson– with say a young Don King far removed from a Porter in tow, coming after a young Latin Joe Louis, more demon than Angel with fucking Al Capone in his corner. 

Both of these fantasy fights involve a litany of fierce exchanges, most likely leaving things short of the judges. Because the boxing universe will be watching from the Big Apple, Shawn and Danny will punch with each other, proudly and willingly, in a Game of Throes for the WBC welterweight championship of the world where every punch will matter. It’s just a matter of which punch it will take for the new WBC welterweight champion to stare down WBA kings Keith “One-Time” Thurman and an older “Pac-Man” in Manny Pacquiao. The kind of punching performance that catches the attention of WBO beast Terence “Bud” Crawford and a fully strapped IBF monster Errol “The Truth” Spence. The fight that says: “Come and get me.” DSG believes he’s that man.

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“This is nothing new to me. I’ve performed at this level for a long time. I’ve put in the hard work. Come Saturday night I’m going to get this victory because I’m the better fighter and a true champion.”

—Danny Garcia, ready for war

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Shawn Porter wore a Wild Card Gym hat to Gleason’s Gym for his media workout on Wednesday, which was more interesting than revealing. Now age 30, he gives the distinct impression, right now, that he’s traded places for throes with the superstar version of a then world #1 Manny Pacquiao at his peak he used to spar for in Hollywood. Not in terms of mass appeal, but in arriving at his own very best. Hell, let Porter tell it, neither Pacquiao nor Thurman could even spar with him today, so who the fog is Danny Garcia?

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“The way I’m going to win this fight will change the conversation at welterweight. You’re going to have to wonder whether Errol Spence Jr. and Terrence Crawford have what it takes to beat me. I’m here to put on a great show, win this title and do it in spectacular fashion.”

—Shawn Porter, future legend and confident AF

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A few weeks ago I touched base with my boy, NYF ring correspondent Colin Morrison in Scotland, to see how he feels about this fight. Most experts see this as a pick ‘em affair and The Colinizer was no different– at first, as he now sees a clear UD for DSG. 

“As both of these fighters lost close decisions to the injury prone Keith Thurman in their last title fight, it made sense for the WBC to match them against one another for the now vacant 147lb title. Topping a good looking card at Barclays Center, Garcia vs. Porter could turn into a welterweight classic. The matchup pits Garcia’s dangerous counter-punching and vaunted left hook in direct opposition to Porter’s aggressive, rough ’em up on the inside style. I can see Garcia just having enough about him to box his way to a narrow decision victory. Porter will have his moments but unless he can score a knockdown or two I don’t think the cards will fall in his favour. Overall this clash of styles should mesh to provide fans with an entertaining spectacle and leave us all with one question when it is over. Will Thurman give a rematch to the new champion when he returns to the sport?”

—CM

As for Keith Thurman, deposed conqueror of both Garcia and Porter seemingly more contented than even contender these days, the former WBC welterweight champion favors the activity of Showtime to get a narrow UD as opposed to the late KO possibility he can see for Garcia. 

I favor the latter. 

Porter, having seen Mauricio Herrera use an unorthodox game of cat ’n mouse to befuddle DSG, will use that data to produce his best rendition of an orthodox Pacquiao. That means speed, uncanny angles, footwork, in and out movement and strategic spurts of unbridled aggression with power. The problem is a then elite Amir Khan felt this way as well, and was countered – HARD. Though Porter’s conditioning is in fact special, Pacquiao was special all the way around, with an impenetrable chin in his prime. Porter’s an extremely hardworking overachiever about to discover the limits of his ability. He’ll swim through Hell and reach the shore with a receipt to prove It, but in the end, expect Swift’s incredible moxy and more concise shotmaking to produce an electrifying 8th round KO over a proud Showtime at a sold out Barclays.