Shawn Showtime Porter(IBF Welterweight Champion) vs Kell Special K Brook - This is a matchup that has been brewing for a while, and in its way, a pretty important fight for both men beyond the belt. Since taking the belt in a mild upset against Devon Alexander, Porter dominated the normally durable Paulie Malignaggi in his first defense, stopping him in four rounds and beginning to create some superstar type buzz. If he keeps the ball rolling, he might be an opponent for Pacquiao(who he formerly sparred with) or Floyd. As for the challenger Brook, the pressure is on him from his UK fanbase. Hes been one of Britains best prospects for a long time, but many times over the past few years it seems like hes been in a holding pattern, unwilling to step up his competition to the world level to the dismay of UK fans. Now, at 28, hes finally making a move as the mandatory for Porter, but hes fighting away from home which hes not very familiar with, and a loss here besides losing the belt would devastate his British supporters. On to the breakdown... The challenger Brook is a very upright orthodox boxer-puncher. His best punches are his jab and straight right hand. He doesnt really have a weak punch from a technical standpoint, but he does have a big problem in that he has exhibited virtually no inside fighting game whatsoever to this point in his career. Tends to be economical but accurate with the shots he does throw, and he is tall for the weight class with a good sense of range, but very much a headhunter fighter. Good hand speed, power, and physical strength, decent foot speed, stamina is questionable. On defense, Brook utilizes a high guard style, and if he can keep the fight on the outside, hes pretty good at picking off punches with it. However, as mentioned before he has no inside game at all to this point in his career, where hes open for hooks to the head and body, and his only answer there has been clinching. Carson Jones, who is not a bad fighter but definitely not world class, gave Brook a lot of problems on the inside in their first fight. So that bodes ill for this matchup. Chin is somewhat a question mark because he hasnt been tagged that much in his career, but has been in some trouble at various points against the aforementioned Jones and a few other opponents. The champion Porter is more diverse in his game, but is at his best as a pressure fighter. In the past hes been very good at doing a combination of walking through his opponents fire to deliver his own shots, as well as springing in from the outside with sneaky leaping hooks. His best punches are his hooks and he has a pretty nice short overhand right. Doesnt really have a bad punch, but from a technical standpoint hes not the greatest. He does, however, put his punches together well and brings a very high workrate to the table. Very good foot speed, hand speed, physical strength, and stamina. He lacks one punch power in my opinion, but is a respectable puncher. His biggest weakness in this matchup is his size as he is very short for a Welterweight, but thus far hes been able to overcome that with his athletic gifts. Defensively, like a lot of athlete-type boxers, Porter is fundamentally not very good. Hes fast, but if he can be timed, hes always open to be hit and with his style of fighting hes generally in the firing zone. That said, he has exhibited great toughness and chin in his previous fights. I wont call this fight a toss-up, but it does have some upset potential. If Brook can get Porters respect early with some power shots and prevent him from getting inside, he can win because hes easily a better technical fighter than Porter in an outside fight and knows how to use his height and reach advantage well. However, I think the big moment and step-up in competition will prove too much for Brook, and Porter will be able to get inside on him, taking advantage of Brooks lacking inside skills and stopping him late in the fight. Should be a good matchup either way as long as it goes. On a small side note, another fight going down this weekend is Brian Vera vs Gabriel Rosado at Middleweight in the first edition of Big Knockout Boxing. If youre unfamiliar, the short of the concept is the two fighters fight in a pit of sorts with no ropes, a much smaller area to fight in than a ring, and both fewer and shorter rounds. Not really sure how I feel about it yet myself, though at the moment Im leaning towards it being a bad thing, focusing more on the brutality than the sporting aspect of boxing. However, both Vera and Rosado are warrior-type fighters, so it will definitely be an action-packed affair for anyone interested.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 03:14:06 +0000
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