You could call him “Twenty-seven time,” but it doesn’t quite have the same ring.
Keith Thurman, 27-0, retained his WBA Welterweight Championship Saturday night, winning a unanimous decision over Shawn Porter. The score on the cards of all three judges – and CBS’s unofficial scorekeeper – was 115-113.
The crowd, however, booed the decision, even though Porter continuously forced clinches throughout the fight.
“I want to thank Shawn Porter for a tremendous fight. He’s a great warrior,” said Thurman, 27, who lives in Clearwater. “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.
“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 said he thought he won the fight. But he said “we need that rematch. I think the fans want that rematch.”
Thurman, nicknamed “One-Time,” never was able to knock Porter down.
“I gave it a throwback in Round 2 and gave him the rope-a-dope, Muhammad Ali style,” Thurman said. “I was just thinking defense, defense, defense. Defense negates his offense. He had a great offense, but I had a great defense today.”
CBS’ ringside punch statistics indicated Thurman landed 203 power shots to Porter’s 177, while Porter had the edge in jabs, 59-32.
