#keith thurman

Photo by Tom Casino for Showtime

by Seamus McNally

Keith “One Time” Thurman (27–0, 22 KOs) remained undefeated by edging out “Showtime” Shawn Porter (26–2–1, 16 KOs) in a thrilling and highly competitive main event in front of a raucous crowd of 12,718 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The card was the first primetime fight on CBS since the late Muhammad Ali lost his heavyweight crown in an upset to Leon Spinks in 1978.

In a highly anticipated matchup of two top-five welterweights, Thurman, 27, of Clearwater, Florida won on all three judges’ scorecards by the same score of 115–113 as his cleaner, more effective punches in the last few rounds gave him the nod.

The fight was originally scheduled for March 12, but Thurman suffered a car accident causing a three-month postponement, and it was worth the wait as the combatants delivered a surefire fight of the year candidate.

In nearly every round there were shots landed by both fighters that would put most fighters on the canvas. Porter, 28, of Akron, Ohio had success when he was able to use his aggressiveness to pin Thurman on the ropes and smother Thurman’s attack while doing work of his own on the inside. Thurman had success catching the ultra-aggressive Porter charging in with thudding counter shots.

Porter had Thurman up against the ropes most of the second round. At the very end of the third round, Thurman, with his back against the ropes, caught Porter with a huge right hand that buckled Porter’s knees. Both fighters were rocked in the final minute of the fourth round in brutal exchanged with Porter catching the worst of it, this time being buckled by a left hook.

In the final minute of the eighth round, Porter landed a left to the body that visibly hurt Thurman, who immediately retreated to the other side of the ring. Porter was unable to capitalize as Thurman was able to stay on the feet and make it to the bell.

Thurman suffered a bad cut over the left eye from a Porter right hand in the ninth round. Both guys were rocked in the round, Porter from a left uppercut and Thurman by an overhand right. Thurman landed huge left hooks in both the tenth and eleventh round that wobbled Porter, who showed a tremendous chin in this fight.

With the crowd on its feet, both fighters, knowing the fight was very close, laid it on the line in the last round, emptying the remainder of their gas tanks. Thurman landed the crisper punches to take the round, and ultimately the fight.

“I want to thank Shawn Porter for a tremendous fight. He’s a great warrior,” Thurman said. “Shawn brought it today. He was on me. But I knew that defense would be the key to victory. He smothers his punches a lot and it’s very difficult for the judges to give him clear scoring.”

Thurman also indicated he was game for a rematch.

“I was able to rock him with clear, effective blows, and I believe that was the key to victory today. He’s in tremendous shape and is a tremendous athlete, and I would love to see him in the ring again if he wanted it.”

Porter was disappointed with the decision, but was a class act in his post-fight interview.

“At the end of the day, I’m blessed,” said Porter. “We worked hard. Keith is a great champion. My dad (trainer Ken Porter) says to keep your head up. I think I won the fight, but I’m satisfied, because the competitor came out tonight.”

In the opening bout of the telecast, Junior middleweight “Swift” Jarrett Hurd (18–0, 12 KOs) of Accokeek, Maryland remained undefeated as he knocked off fellow undefeated fighter Oscar Molina (13–1–1, 10 KOs) of Norwalk, California via tenth-round technical knockout.

Hurd used his six-and-a-half inch reach advantage well in the first round as he used a snapping jab to keep Molina out of punching range. With just under a minute left in the round, Hurd landed a huge counter right uppercut that dropped Molina.

Hurd gradually moved the fight from the outside to close range, and continued to have just as much success fighting on the inside as he did boxing on the outside.

Hurd used subtle movements, slipping shots and making effective use of the catch-and-shoot to land the cleaner, harder shots most of the contest. Molina, who represented Mexico in the 2012 Olympics, and who’s brother Javier was a U.S. Olympian in 2008, was very game and won his only round in the fourth by landing overhand rights on the inside over Hurd’s low lead left hand.

In the tenth round, with Molina quickly fading, trailing by a wide margin on all three scorecards and accumulating punishment, referee Ricky Gonzalez stepped in at the 2:02 to halt the contest. It was controversial as Molina did not appear hurt and had less than a minute remaining until the final bell, but the result was academic as Hurd was well on his way to an easy victory.

“Molina is a great fighter. This is definitely a big win for my career,” Hurd said. “He was taking a lot of shots, but he knew how to survive.”

“We wanted to get him out early because we knew that he had a lot of ring experience. We had to break him down first.”