Last night, Shawn Porter (27-2-1) did what not even Floyd Mayweather was able to do, stop Andre Berto (31-5). In front of a crowd of just over 9,000 attendees at the Barclays Center, Porter joined Jesus Soto Karass as the only man to stop the fierce Berto at 1:31 of the ninth round, clinching the WBC welterweight title eliminator. Porter is now the mandatory challenger for Keith Thurmans title and has a chance to try and avenge his controversial loss last June for the WBA welterweight title.
The fight was dominated by Porters trademark pressure style as he stalked Berto and forced him into close quarter brawls throughout the fight. Accidental head butts underscored the fight as both Berto and Porter suffered cuts early in the fight from exchanges that were too close for comfort.
I got to clean up those head butts, said Porter in the post-fight interview. We tried to use the whole ring, but sometimes in the heat of the battle, Im a fighter and Mr. Berto is a fighter as well, those head butts were just the two of us going in and fighting.
Berto although dismayed at the loss conceded that Porters style gave him problems that he couldnt adjust to.
I have to give him credit, but hes a rough fighter, said Berto during his post-fight interview. He has great skills but, at the same time, hes going to be rough and try to handle me anyway he can. I got a lot of head butts, and he did too. We had a good, competitive fight until the head butts got to be a little too much for me.
The notables of the stacked welterweight division were all in attendance including Errol Spence, Jr., who will be fighting Kell Brook for the IBF welterweight title he wrested form Shawn Porter in late May. Keith Thurman who is the man on top of the welterweight heap said at the host desk that he will be watching Spences fight closely as a win for Spence could pit them against each other for a unification bout. However, with Porter being his mandatory challenger that rematch is now on his radar.
His team was adamant about the rematch and now hes fought his way to earn that, said Thurman during his post-fight interview. We just need to sit down and talk about it. Hes hungry, you see the way he fights, it could be a great fight again.
In the co-main event, Jermell Charlo defeated Charles Hatley by KO at :32 of round 6. The vicious KO saw Hatley face-planted on the edge of the ring.
Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez both win in L.A.
Shakur Stevenson (1-0) made his pro debut last night with a fifth round technical decision win over Edgar Brito (3-3-1) last night on pay-per-view at the StubHub Center. In a total mismatch of skill, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist outclassed Brito from the start. His quick sharp punches stunned Brito from the outset with a style reminiscent of his co-manager light heavyweight champion Andre Ward.
In the third round, Brito suffered a cut and lost a point for an intentional head butt. It was the second time in the round that he came in with his head. In the fourth, Stevenson continued to punish Brito with punches to the head and body. In the fifth, the action slowed down a bit but Stevenson was picking his punches, landing well and controlling the entire contest. After the fifth round, the ringside doctor stopped the fight. He felt the cut, which didn’t look that bad, was too severe on Brito to allow the fight to continue and sent the contest to the scorecards. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Stevenson.
Headliner Oscar Valdez made the biggest title defense of his pro career by out-boxing and out-punching dangerous and gutsy Miguel Marriaga over 12 grueling rounds to retain his WBO featherweight title by unanimous decision.
Valdez (22-0, 19 knockouts), scored a knockdown in Round 10 to ensure victory by scores of 119-108, 118-109 and 116-111. The official cards do not reflect the hotly-contested nature of the fight, which headlined a Top Rank-promoted pay-per-view show.
UFC Fight Night: Cub Swanson defeats Artem Lobov via unanimous decision
UFC featherweight contender Cub Swanson delivered an historic performance on Saturday when he landed a record number of strikes for a featherweight fight during his unanimous decision win over Artem Lobov in the UFC Fight Night 108 headliner.
Swanson (25-7) earned the victory over Lobov (13-13-1) in the FS1-televised main event at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville etching his name in the 145-pound ranks.
