In June 2016, former welterweight titleholder Shawn Porter got a second chance to win a world title and he came agonizingly close.
He lost a razor-close decision challenging Keith Thurman for his belt -- 115-113 on all three scorecards -- in what was one of the best fights of last year. Porter hoped for an immediate rematch, and the action and competitiveness of the bout certainly called for it. But, alas, it did not happen.
Thurman did not fight the rest of the year and when he came back in March it was for a much-anticipated title unification fight against Danny Garcia, which Thurman won by split decision. Porter, meanwhile, wound up being out of action for 10 months -- not his desire -- but when he returned on April 22 he knocked out former two-time world titleholder Andre Berto in a title elimination fight to secure the position as one of Thurman's mandatory challengers.
But even though Porter is in position for a second chance to face Thurman, the fight won't be next. Thurman is recovering from right elbow surgery in the wake of the fight with Garcia and won't fight again until at least February or March, and even then he plans on taking a lesser fight to shake off the rust of his layoff and, more importantly, make sure his elbow is sound.
Porter, already frustrated by layoffs out of his control, was not about to sit around waiting for his second chance to face Thurman.
"I didn't want to sit around waiting for Thurman. We all know I'm quote-unquote the favorite to win this fight here (with Granados). I know my own abilities and I know I'm not going to lose this fight. I have confidence knowing I'll win this fight, make some money and close out the year." Shawn Porter
Instead, Porter will risk his mandatory position against Adrian Granados, a hard-luck fighter who has given many quality opponents tough nights in close losses, in another title eliminator on Saturday (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
If the underdog Granados wins, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said Granados will become the mandatory challenger for Thurman, but Porter said that is not about to happen when they meet in the co-feature to the rematch between heavyweight world titleholder Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs), 32, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Las Vegas-based former titleholder Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs), who turned 39 on Wednesday.
"I didn't want to sit around waiting for Thurman," Porter told ESPN this week. "We all know I'm quote-unquote the favorite to win this fight here (with Granados). I know my own abilities and I know I'm not going to lose this fight. I have confidence knowing I'll win this fight, make some money and close out the year."
In the opening fight of the tripleheader, Sergey Lipinets (12-0, 10 KOs), 28, a Kazakhstan native fighting out of Los Angeles, and Akihiro Kondo (29-6-1, 16 KOs), 32, of Japan, will fight for one of the junior welterweight titles that undisputed world champion Terence Crawford vacated in order to move up in weight.
What Porter (27-2-1, 17 KOs), who turned 30 last week, really wants is Thurman back in the ring again even though he knows it won't happen until next summer at the earliest.
"I'll handle my business on Saturday but it's a double edge sword," Porter said. "I want the best Keith Thurman in the ring. But if he feels like he needs a tune-up fight to make sure everything is good to go with him I understand that. I'd rather not have him have any excuses when fighting me again. The fight is still a great fight for me even if we have to wait a little longer to get it. I'm looking forward to it next year but when, I don't know."
Porter, of Las Vegas, was originally scheduled to return from the victory against Berto to face Thomas Dulorme on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas on the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor undercard, but Porter withdrew less than two weeks before the fight following a death in his family.
"I know that Shawn's the favorite but I feel good about fighting in Brooklyn. I've been to Barclays Center twice to watch fights and I'm excited to be fighting there. If I win, I'll be the mandatory for Keith Thurman's WBC belt and that's my motivation." Adrian Granados
"In the moment I really wasn't crazy about the idea of canceling the fight and I told my dad (and trainer Ken Porter) I wanted to fight," Porter said. "My dad said he didn't think it was the best fight for us right now. We talked a little more about it and we both decided we'll move forward past this one and something greater will be down the line. That was the best decision for us. After we made the decision it took or three days for me to let it go."
Porter said even though he withdrew from the fight with Dulorme that it was still imperative for him to fight again before the end of the year. He only got one fight in 2016 and did not want a repeat.
"That was very important to me and understanding the fighter I would face would be Adrian Granados, I knew there wasn't anything that was going to hold him back from fighting me and nothing to stop me from fighting him," Porter said.
"I feel very familiar with Granados at this point. One night I watched about three or four of his fights and some interviews and really got to put him in my mind. He's an aggressive fighter who's not easily hurt or fazed by what's going on in the ring. This is going to be a very competitive fight. The key to beating him will be my speed. I have to outbox him, make him walk into some heavy shots and eventually knock him out."
Granados (18-5-2, 12 KOs), 28, of Chicago, suffered all of his defeats by either split or majority decision, including in his last fight in February, when he dropped a split verdict to former four-division titlist Adrien Broner. In Porter's only 2016 ring appearance, he won a clear decision against Broner.
"I thought that he had a good showing against Adrien Broner but that wasn't part of the decision to fight him at all," Porter said. "I didn't look at it like he lost to Adrien and I beat Adrien. The decision to fight him was because I wanted to fight again before the end of the year and I know he will come to fight, not play defense and hold me all night. This is a good fight for me."
Granados said he wasn't expecting the chance to fight Porter but was really excited when it was offered to him.
"It was a surprise when I got the call for this fight but I jumped right at the opportunity to get in the ring with Shawn Porter," Granados said. "He had a close fight with Keith Thurman and a win over Adrien Broner so a victory over him puts me right back at the top of the division.
"I know that Shawn's the favorite but I feel good about fighting in Brooklyn. I've been to Barclays Center twice to watch fights and I'm excited to be fighting there. If I win, I'll be the mandatory for Keith Thurman's WBC belt and that's my motivation."
Porter said one of his motivations is to be the first opponent to hang a clear-cut loss on Granados.
"This will be the first time where he's actually counted out and put out," Porter said. "I'm going to be the first guy that beats him no questions asked."
And then he hopes to move on to the Thurman rematch, but if that fight is delayed again he hopes to face Garcia. Recently, the WBC was poised to order the fight for the interim title while Thurman was recovering. Porter was game, but the Garcia side wasn't so interested, leading to Porter agreeing to fight Granados.
"Danny Garcia is plan B. That's another good fight out there for me, but I have Granados and you know I really want Thurman again," Porter said.