If welterweights Shawn Porter and Manny Pacquiao fought one another chances are some sort of punch-stat record would be in danger of being broken. And with both welterweight champions fighting on PBC, the chances of this particular match-up being made are that much stronger – and this hasn’t been missed by Porter. The reigning WBC champ is getting ready for his March 9th defence against Yordenis Ugas (a fight that will be tougher than most expect, Porter says) but he would like nothing more than to lock horns with all-time great Pacquiao.
Speaking with RingTV.com, Porter said he aims to show in the Ugas fight that he has no “holes” in his game: “Errol Spence, Mikey Garcia, Manny Pacquiao, Keith Thurman, I want to show all those guys that there aren’t any holes in my game,” Porter told the website of The Bible of Boxing. And as for that possible fight with Pac-Man – it would be action all the way, Porter insists.
“Manny’s style and my style are very exciting styles, and the contrast in the ring against myself and Manny would just be a tremendous, action-packed fight from beginning to end and that’s what people want to see,” Porter said. “I’m just fortunate to have the kind of style that I have and the kind of presence and nature that I have in the ring that can perform against someone like Manny. Not many fighters can do it but I know I can and I’m excited to be able to do it.”
We must wait to see what Pacquiao does next (he is if course still hoping to land that massive return fight with Floyd Mayweather) and of course Porter must overcome the determined, Ismael Salas-trained Ugas. But if we fight fans are lucky, Porter and Pacquiao will fight. And what a war it would be. Despite being 40 years old now, Pacquiao is still a real force to be reckoned with, as he showed against Lucas Matthysse and, last time out, Adrien Broner. Still fast, still explosive and still capable of slinging out plenty of leather in each round of a fight, Pac-Man remains one of the top three or four best welterweights out there.
And we all know how much value for money we get each and every time Porter steps into the ring. Match these two buzz-saws together and you have a can’t-miss fight. Let’s hope it happens.