Shawn Porter

Amateur career

As an amateur, Porter competed mostly as a middleweight and compiled an astounding amateur record of 276–14. In 2007 he won the World Golden Gloves Championship but at the PanAm Games Shawn was knocked out in the second round by Cuban Emilio Correa. Though he boasts amateur victories over current pro prospects Daniel Jacobs, Demetrius Andrade, Edwin Rodriguez, Shawn Estrada and Jonathan Nelson, he came up just short in qualifying for the 2008 U.S. Olympics team. Porter is a graduate of Stow-Munroe Falls High School. There he earned all conference in football his junior and senior year.

Professional career

Porter is trained and managed by his father Kenny Porter, located in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Early career

Porter began his pro career at 165½ pounds on October 3, 2008 at the Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland, USA. His opponent was Norman Johnson. Porter won the fight via first round TKO. In his 5th professional fight, Porter faced off against 31 year old Cory Jones (4-3, 1 KO) on February 6, 2009. Porter won the fight after 4 rounds via unanimous decision (40-33, 40-33, 39-35). Jones was knocked down twice in round 1. On April 3, 2009, Porter defeated Eloy Suarez (10–4, 5 KOs) via 1st round TKO. Porter backed Suarez in a corner, landed several right hand power punches and sent him to the canvas. Suarez beat the count, but was out on his feet. The referee waved a halt at 2:59 of round 1.

Light middleweight

In August 2009, Porter moved down to 154lbs, defeating Lamar Harris at the Fitzgerald's Casino & Hotel in Tunica, Mississippi. In December 2009, Porter took on undefeated 27 year old Jamar Patterson (8–0, 4 KOs) at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota in a scheduled 8 round fight. Porter won the fight after the referee waved off the fight in round 4 after Porter knocked down Patterson. Porter won his first Championship belt, the Interim WBO NABO Light Middleweight title against Russell Jordan (15–6, 10 KOs) on ESPN's Friday Night Fights on February 19, 2010. Jordan was deducted a point in 9th round after losing mouthpiece twice as the bout went full 10 rounds. The scorecards read 97–92, 97–92, 100–89. On April 16, 2010 he knocked out veteran Raul Pinzon (17-4, 16 KOs) in just one round. In July, Porter beat 24 year old Ray Robinson (11-1, 4 KOs) via unanimous decision (99–89, 97–92, 98–91) at DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi.

Welterweight

On October 15, 2010 Porter moved down to 147lbs. His first opponent was American Hector Munoz (18–3–4, 11 KOs) at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. It was for the NABF Welterweight Title, left vacant by Saul Alvarez. Munoz was cut on the right side of his head by a barrage of punches in round 5. During round 9, Porter's promoter, Gary Shaw, ran over to Munoz's corner pleading for them to stop the fight which they finally agreed and threw in the towel at 2:05 of round 9.

On February 18, 2011 Porter successfully defended his title against Anges Adjaho (25–4, 14 KOs) via 10 round unanimous decision (99–91, 99–91, 97–93). The fight was on the undercard of Fernando Guerrero vs. Derrick Findley and was part of the first-ever televised live boxing card in 3D. At 144 lbs, Porter was fighting at the lightest weight of his professional career to date. Adjaho entered having lost four of his previous six bouts and having not won in just over two years.

On April 2012, after over a year out, Porter stopped veteran journeyman Patrick Thompson in round 6. Porter claimed the vacant WBO NABO welterweight title by defeating Alfonso Gomez (23–5–2, 12 KOs) on July 28 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. This was the first fight for Gomez since suffering a sixth round knockout loss to Saul Alvarez (37–0–1) ten months prior. Shawn Porter overcame a cut above his right eye in the opening round and a nasty gash in the tenth that spanned his left eyebrow to remain unbeaten. The judges scored the bout 98–92, 96–94, 97–93.

Porter vs. Diaz I, II

On December 15, Porter fought on the undercard of Khan-Molina at the Sports Arena, Los Angeles against veteran Mexican former world champion Julio Diaz (40–7, 29 KOs). The fight ended in a split decision draw after 10 rounds 96–94, 95–95, 94–96.

On May 18, 2013 Porter knocked down the undefeated Canadian Phil Lo Greco (25-0, 14 KOs) in round 10 winning a unanimous decision 99–89, 100–88, 100–88 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Porter improved his record to 22–0–1 after defeating former world champion Julio Díaz (40–8, 29 KOs) by decision on September 12, 2013, retaining the NABO title and winning the vacant IBF North American title as a result. At the end of 10 rounds, the judges scored it (97-93, 98-92, 97-93).

Porter vs. Alexander, Malignaggi

On October, 2013, it was announced that Porter would challenge IBF Welterweight Champion Devon Alexander (25-1, 14 KOs) on November 30 at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio. Alexander was thought to be making his second title defense against England's Amir Khan but Instead had to settle for facing Porter in a much lower-profile bout. The fight took place on December 7 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Porter controlled most of the fight, beating up Alexander in a unanimous-decision victory to win the welterweight world title. The judges scored the bout 116–112, 116–112 and 115–113. ESPN.com also had Porter winning, 117-111.

Golden Boy announced on March 12, Porter would defend his newly won world title April 19, 2014 against former world welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (33–5, 7 KOs) on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins vs. Beibut Shumenov at the DC Armory in Washington. Porter entered as the # 6 welterweight contender in the world according The Ring Magazine. Malignaggi was ranked as the # 8 contender. Porter won via 4th round TKO. A double jab opened a cut under the left eye of Malignaggi in round one. Porter had a huge second round, badly rocking Malignaggi multiple times. In round four, Porter hurt Malignaggi with a lunging left hook moments later and a barrage, which included a couple of clean right hands which sent Malignaggi down and under the bottom rope. The referee waved an end to the bout without beginning a count.

Porter vs. Brook

Shawn Porter was ordered by the IBF to make his next mandatory defense against Kell Brook (32-0, 22 KOs). Brook defeated Porter for the championship via 12 round majority decision. Two American judges scored it (117-111 and 116-112) for Brook while the English judge scored it (114–114). This was a Showtime debut for Porter. The fight did not generate as many viewers as expected, an average of 661,000 viewers. The whole card averaged just 514,000 viewers.

Porter vs. Bone, Broner

On March 13, 2015, Shawn Porter was scheduled to make his debut as a part of the Premier Boxing Champions series on Spike TV against veteran Roberto Garcia. The fight took place in Ontario, California, at the Citizens Business Bank Arena. Garcia was hospitalized with an undisclosed illness prior to the weigh-in and was forced to withdraw. However, things came together and Erick Bone (16–1, 8 KOs) stepped in to face Porter on short notice at a contractually agreed-upon weight of 149 pounds. Porter knocked Bone out in the fifth round.

On June 20, 2015, Shawn Porter faced Adrien Broner (30-1, 22 KOs) at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC at a catch weight of 144lbs as per Broner's demand. Porter dominated majority of the fight to win a unanimous decision over Broner. Broner was warned many times for holding during the bout and was deducted a point in round 11. Broner opened the 12th round with a clean left hand that connected and dropped Porter for the first time in his career. Porter recovered from the knockdown and improved his record to 26-1-1 despite the usual pre-fight trash talk by Broner. The 3 judges scored the bout 114–112, 118–108, 115–111.

Porter vs. Thurman

It was announced on February 17, that WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (26-0-0-(1), 22 KOs) would put his title on the line against Porter on March 12, 2016 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. On February 23, Thurman's promoter said he had been forced to postpone his upcoming fight with Porter after being injured in a car accident. Lou Di Bella had insisted the injury is not serious or career threatening, but admits the American is lucky to have escaped major injury. Thurman had not been cleared to resume training by his doctors and is expected to be on the sidelines for between four and six weeks. Porter announced that his rescheduled world title clash against Thurman will take place on June 25 at the Barclays Center. The World Boxing Association has ordered the winner of the Thurman and Porter to face interim WBA welterweight champion David Avanesyan (22–1–1, 11 KOs), who beat #3 WBA Shane Mosley (49–10–1, 41 KOs) on May 28.

In an old-fashioned fight of the year candidate, Porter was unsuccessful in winning the title as Thurman won by unanimous decision, before a crowd of 12,718, when all three judges scored an identical 115–113 in favor of Thurman. Porter earned a $1m purse. This was the first main event televised by CBS in prime time since February 15, 1978, when Muhammad Ali lost a 15-round split decision and the heavyweight title to Leon Spinks in a massive upset. Thurman landed 235 of 539 punches (44 percent) and Porter landed 236 of 662 (36 percent). After the fight, there was immediate talks of a rematch. The fight averaged 3.1 million viewers, according to ESPN. The card itself averaged 2.4 million viewers. The live gate was over $1.1 million in ticket sales, the highest gate in the history of Barclays Center to date, it was also the second highest attendance in the history of Barclays Center, with over 12,000 paying customers in attendance. Premier Boxing Champions voted the bout as their 'Fight of the Year'.

Porter vs. Berto

On February 13, 2017 it was announced that a deal was close to being made between Porter and former welterweight world champion Andre Berto (31-4, 24 KOs). On March 5, it was officially confirmed the fight would take place on April 22, 2017 at the Barclays Center in New York City with CBS confirming Showtime would televise the bout. Halfway through the press conference, promoter Lou DiBella confessed that he received a phone call from WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman and he reported the fight would be a final eliminator. On March 4, Keith Thurman defeated Danny Garcia to become the new WBA and WBC unified welterweight champion.

Porter earned another world title fight against Thurman after he stopped Berto inside the distance. Porter used power shots to the body of Berto to wear him down over the rounds. Berto was dropped in round 2, the same round Porter suffered a bad cut from clash of heads. After round 4, Porter was cut above both eyes and Berto was cut above the left eye, all due to clash of heads. Porter dropped Berto once again in round 9, forcing the stoppage. At the time of stoppage, Porter was ahead on all scorecards, 79-71, 79-74 and 78-73. Porter was the busier fighter, landing 175 of 448 (39%) punches thrown, whilst Berto landed 81 of 254 thrown. Many experts called the fight dirty due to constant clash of heads and blood pouring from both fighters. Porter said, "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."

Porter earned earned $1 million whilst Berto got the higher amount of $1.2 million for the fight. The fight averaged 468,000 viewers on Showtime.

Porter vs. TBA

Due to Keith Thurman being sidelined for the remainder of 2017, on July 17 the WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told ESPN Deportes, that he would likely order a fight between the #1 Porter and #2 Danny Garcia (33-1, 19 KOs) for the Interim WBC title. He also went on to state, if Porter or Garcia declined to take part in the interim title fight, he would move on to the next highest available ranked fighter. At that time, Manny Pacquiao was #3, Jessie Vargas was #4 and Konstantin Ponomarev was ranked #5 by the WBC. A day later, Porter added fuel to the speculation when he called out Garcia in a WWE-esque promo on social media, "I just heard that the WBC will ask Showtime Shawn Porter to fight another title eliminator. And they want me to fight none other than the cherry picker himself - Danny Garcia. What I say to you Danny Garcia - let's get it on," Porter claimed the ball was now in Garcia's court.

On July 30, Ringtv announced that Porter would fight on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor undercard at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, however won't be part of the Showtime PPV card. Instead his fight against 27 year old former light welterweight contender Thomas Dulorme (24-2, 16 KOs), who last fought in a stoppage loss to Terence Crawford in April 2015, would headline the preliminary card on Fox. Porter pulled out of his fight with Dulorme on August 17, 9 days before the fight, due to a death in his family. Mayweather Promotions released a statement confirming 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Yordenis Ugas (19-3, 9 KOs) would take his place in fighting Dulorme. On August 2, 2017 the WBC president confirmed that he still had the intention of ordering the fight between Porter and Garcia for the interim title.