Shawn Porter batters Andre Berto in New York and earns another shot at Keith Thurman
By Rich Mazon
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 23 Apr 2017
Brooklyn, New York - Shawn Porter is always a strong, physical fighter and he brings that attribute every time he steps inside the ring.
Saturday night against fellow challenger Andre Berto at The Barclays Center was no different from his previous fights - physical, rough, ugly- and it resulted in another victory and another future title shot for the tough welterweight.
Porter charged towards Berto like a bull rushing a matador beginning in the 2nd and unleashed shots to the head and body of his cornered foe en route to a 9th round stoppage to become the World Boxing Council's mandatory challenger to its welterweight crown.
The early infighting caused an early clash of heads in the 2nd resulting in a cut on Porter's left eye. This did not deter Porter as he continued his attack and he dropped Berto with one second left in the round.
Berto survived the knockdown and responded with well placed uppercuts and body shots as his response to Porter's relentless assault in the next round.
Both fighters suffered cuts in the fourth, Berto on his left eye and another wound was inflicted on Porter's right eye. Both from head butts.
This slowed the phase of the fight because several times Referee Mark Nelson had to summon the physicians at ringside to check on both fighter's wounds as blood oozed from the two.
Berto's face showed signs of frustration because of the head clashes but also because he is unable to defend and box around Porter's aggressiveness. His only answer were his uppercuts that momentarily slowed his attacker.
Despite his twin cuts, Porter continued his bull rushing style of fighting. He would get hit by Berto's uppercuts and body shots in the process but he took those shots well.
That can't be said of Berto and he finally succumb in the 9th round and had to be saved by Nelson from further punishment.
In the round, A left by Porter sent Berto towards the ropes and Nelson calls it a knockdown. Porter would not waste any time as he immediately attacked Berto after the count. They exchanged punches but another left from Porter hurt Berto in the corner and Nelson stepped in to end the fight.
The time was 1:31 of the 9th.
With the victory, Porter gets another crack at the WBC's 147 pound title belt that is held by his former conqueror and WBC and World Boxing Association (WBA) champion Keith Thurman who added the WBC belt to his collections after his win over Danny Garcia last month in this same venue.
?I got to clean up those head butts. 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." said Porter after the fight.
?My intention is never to use my head as a weapon. This was a just very hard fought battle by both of us and I?m blessed to get the victory.? added Porter who is looking forward to fighting Thurman again.
Porter and Berto fought an entertaining championship fight last year for the WBA belt which Thurman won by a close Unanimous Decision.
Jermall Charlo destroys Charles Hatley
In the co - main event of the night, World Boxing Council (WBC) super welterweight champion Jermell Charlo (29-0, 14 KOs) successfully defended his title with a spectacular knockout of number 1 challenger, Charles Hatley (26-2-1, 18 KOs).
Charlo knocked out Hatley with a hard right to the chin 32 seconds inside the 6th round of their championship match.
The champion's heavy hands was evident from the opening bell and his challenger felt every pound of it from the second round onward.
Hatley was almost knocked down in the second by straight right and the ropes prevented a knockdown. He went down in the 3rd after receiving a one-two from Charlo which he recovered from.
The challenger survived Charlo's attempts to put him down for good in the remainder of the 3rd and he managed a decent 4th round with good movement and he was also able to throw some punches that scored against Charlo.
Unable to finish his opponent in the 4th and 5th, Charlo engaged Hatley in a toe-to-toe exchanged in the early portion of the 6th round. And from these exchanges, came a rocket of a right cross from Charlo that sent Hatley to sleep.
Referee Harvey Dock did not even manage to call a count and immediately stopped the fight in favor of Charlo who celebrated after the knockout.
"I used that jab to set up the right hand. I knew Charles Hatley goes down and he gets back up. He's a warrior and I knew I had to get in there and be a lion." said Charlo.
Charlo is looking to unify the 154 pound belts as he eyed a future bout with fellow champ Jarrett Hurd who holds the International Boxing Federation (IBF) strap.
?I?m the champ so I have to continue to fight my mandatory. They got a guy named Jarret Hurd that took my brother?s title. We could unify."
You can reach the writer at rrmaze24@aol.com
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rich Mazon .
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