Porter: Thurman the second-best fighter I’ve ever faced, even above Spence

Porter says Thurman has proven to be a highly intelligent fighter.

Shawn Porter takes a few minutes to put his analyst cap on and talks to the media about the best fighters he’s ever been in the ring against. Porter says you might be surprised but he rates Keith Thurman as the second best fighter he’s been up against, even above Errol Spence Jr. who reigns as unified welterweight champion. Check out some of what Porter had to say below.

“I think (Ugas) would be flirting with three, in terms of in competition” Porter said regarding the best fighters he’s faced. “One and two are Terence Crawford, and believe it or not, Keith Thurman. I know a lot of people would probably expect me to say Errol Spence Jr.

“People talk about the intelligence that Errol has, Keith is highly intelligent. I would be remiss if I didn’t say The Porter Way Podcast, he came on, and he broke down to me how he broke down the fight before we got in the ring. I’m like ‘Damn, aight. I just got to this level of intelligence, you been here for a minute.’

“Keith’s in the position now where I think if anything we’ll see his intelligence over anything else that he has to offer the boxing game. We love the power, but at some point if you’re not focused on the power, you’re not continuing to grow your power and things of that nature — that was Keith’s thing, like since we were kids. And once that goes away — I’ve learned that as a pro watching other pros — when you can’t keep up with the hand speed or if somebody’s stronger, (the mind) is where you win the fight...when we talk about some of the smarter boxers in the game, we should talk about Keith.”