On Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York,WBA welterweight champion Keith "One Time" Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) edged Showtime Shawn Porter (26-2-1) in a unanimous-decision victory to retain his title.
This was the first fight CBS has broadcast in prime time in 38 years, and it was worth the wait.
They say styles make fights, and that adage was never more true than it was Saturday night, as this is a candidate for fight of the year.
Porter's hard-charging style makes all of his opponents uncomfortable, and Thurman was no exception. In the second and third rounds, he bullied Thurman against the ropes and cut the angles, eliminating the champion's ability to escape.
Thurman regained the control he established in the first round by countering Porter when he was lunging. He rocked the Akron, Ohio, native with hard right hands and wobbled him in the fourth round.
Ever the rugged warrior, Porter regained his wherewithal and returned fire. Around the fifth round, it was clear: We were witnessing a special bout.
Through the middle rounds, the back-and-forth action drew a tremendous roar from the Barclays crowd and even two standing ovations at the end of frames.
Thurman continued to rip counter power shots, and Porter did his best work with Thurman's back against the ropes. Judging these rounds was no easy job, as Porter's aggression or Thurman's more accurate, effective punching could have swayed the scoring either way.
According to the CBS broadcast, Porter connected on 236 of 662 (36 percent) punches thrown, and Thurman landed 235 of 539 (44 percent).
In the end, the latter won.
