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Live from Barclay’s Center on Saturday, April 22nd at 9pm EST, Showtime Championship presents from Brooklyn, New York the highly-anticipated title shot elimination fight in the welterweight division as Andre Berto (31-4, 24 KO) and “Showtime” Shawn Porter (26-2-1, 16 KO) face-off. The winner is set to be the next WBC mandatory defense for current champion Keith “One Time” Thurman. Both fighters come into Saturday Night with extended time away from the ring, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if this fight isn’t as technically sound as many would like in the early rounds. Berto was last seen at the StubHub Center in Carson California when he avenged his first professional loss with a KO of Victor Ortiz. Berto has a classic tale of a fighter who is a 2-time world champion climbing back into a title shot contender after previous losses. In the other corner, Shawn Porter was a mere close decision against current WBC welterweight champ Thurman and looks to take care of business in convincing style to setup a mandatory title shot rematch.
Fighter Breakdown:
Andre Berto, the former 2-time world champion, comes into Saturday Night’s fight as the underdog, but that is nothing new for him. Berto has been a highly successful under-the-radar fighter who stays humble and quiet in the gym training for any fight that should come his way. His commitment and work ethic has made him a champion, but more impressively has given him title shot opportunities at different stages in his career. Fighting back up the rankings after a bad loss to Robert Guerrero with a classic KO of Victor Ortiz, Berto knows this may be his last opportunity to fight for a major title at age 33. Look for the crafty veteran of the sweet science to use his foot work and counter ability against a hard charging pressure fighter in Porter. The more Berto can keep Porter frustrated with a defensive style is when he can sneak in that strong uppercut and shook some fans.
Shawn Porter will enter the fight Saturday Night enduring his longest layoff from boxing of 10 months following his defeat to current WBC welterweight champ Keith Thurman. Porter’s strength and conditioning will be the 2 key factors in securing a victory over Berto and setting up the rematch he’s been waiting for. Porter’s experience will serve him in a positive aspect facing a crafty veteran like Berto. With Porter having wins over some notable boxing names in Devon Alexander, Paulie Malignaggi, Julio Diaz, and Adrien Broner, look for him to stick to the game plan him and his trainer/father Kenny Porter have followed through successfully in the past. As experience as Porter may be with an extended layoff he’ll naturally have pent up energy; hopefully this fight will show a sign of maturity in Porter’s development as a professional that could give him that close edge he needed against Thurman should he be victorious over Andre Berto.
Fight Prediction:
For this one fight fans, I’m going with the younger stronger fighter in Shawn Porter. Both these guys are worth fighting no matter when and against whomever. But on this night Shawn Porter takes the victory over Berto via a unanimous decision.
Also remember to tune into Fight Talk Tonight every Monday 8pm EST as we break down this fight! Available via free Spreaker Radio app.
