Errol Spence seems to be targeting a Shawn Porter rematch!
When the Spence versus Porter unification bout was announced the greater majority of the boxing world treated it like a mismatch. Throughout the entire pre-fight build-up, fans and boxing pundits alike regarded Shawn “Showtime” Porter (30-3-1, 17 KO’s) as some second tier boxer who was vastly out of his element. Mirroring these sentiments, the Vegas odds makers labeled the Ohio native as a severe underdog.
For some odd reason, the former WBC champion just couldn’t get his respect.
Once in the ring, however, the actual prizefight took on an entirely different life of its own!
From the very outset of the contest, Porter took the fight to Spence with immense success. The so-called limited brawler masterfully used tricky footwork, jabs from the outside, spinning maneuvers on the ropes and gritty inside fighting to largely keep Spence off balance.
The Truth held his ground and fought back like a champion, yet it was nowhere near the casual affair that experts and fans drummed it up to be. In fact, until Spence scored a clutch knockdown in the eleventh round the contest was dead even in most people’s estimation.
When the bout was brought to a conclusion, Errol Spence (26-0, 21 KO’s) narrowly won on two cards. The third scorecard was suspiciously wide and has since been largely ridiculed. Similar to the fight itself, in the post-fight conference following the instant classic the two men traded fists to engage in a war of words.
The verbal clash began when Porter took credit for selling the bulk of pay-per-view buys. Naturally, the Truth didn’t take kindly to this and took his shots Showtime. Throughout the final minutes of the presser Porter could be heard repeating: “rematch…rematch…rematch!”
Given the excitement, action and overall competitiveness of the fight very few boxing fans would beef at the notion of a quick do-over. Initially, Spence said he was of the mind to pursue a mega-fight with Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KO’s), or even Terence “Bud” Crawford (35-0, 26 KO’s).
Trouble is, Pacquiao doesn’t seem to want to be bothered with Spence and aggravating politics continue to prevent a showdown with Crawford.
Directly after the Porter/Spence dust-up, Danny “Swift” Garcia (35-2, 21 KO’s), who is ranked #1 by the WBC, immediately hopped in the ring to challenge the Truth for his dual WBC and IBF titles.
Both Spence and the collective boxing world turned their noses up to this option. Left with no other more tantalizing options, an immediate rematch began sounding better and better.
In the days following the successful event extremely favorable pay-per-view numbers began filing in. At the moment, it’s believed that Spence vs Porter sold upwards of 350,000 ppv buys and peaking up to 600,000!
These healthy numbers seriously strengthened the argument for the two to run it back. Now, with no better opponent on the horizon and a new financial incentive it would appear that Spence is cozying up to the idea of a rematch.
There is also the possible motivation of pride. Ahead of the splendid fight, Errol Spence repeatedly branded Porter as a dirty fighter. The Truth told those in the press, and Porter to his face, that the Cleveland native routinely illegally used his head and elbows to damage his opponents.
Nevertheless, when they engaged each other, it was Spence and only Spence who resorted to underhanded tactics in the ring.
Throughout the bout the Truth landed an obscene amount of low-blows on Shawn Porter. Oddly enough, Porter did virtually zero complaining about the debilitating infractions. Odder still, referee Jack Reiss likewise did absolutely nothing about the withering crotch shots.
As a result, many in boxing circles feel as though had the repetitive fouls been addressed, or a point taken, the fight might have had a vastly different outcome.
In any case, Spence gives the impression that he doesn’t like being called a dirty fighter himself. Nor does he like the talking point that he had to cheat to win, and barely win at that. So, in true Deontay Wilder fashion, the Truth appears to be thinking hard about clearing up any lingering misconceptions about who the superior boxer is.
More than thinking about it, Spence took to his Instagram page with a quick post that had ‘let’s run it back’ in the caption. This is about as direct a message as one could hope for! There is little question that Team Porter will accept the challenge so long as it’s not retracted.
3kingsboxing will continue to cover this exciting new development.
By: Bakari Simpson
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