By: Hans Themistode
The unveiling of Shawn Porter’s opponent this upcoming weekend was disappointing to most.
After spending four years taking on some of the welterweight divisions best in Errol Spence Jr, Yordenis Ugas, Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman and Andre Berto — Porter’s upcoming matchup against the unheralded Sebastian Formella left plenty to be desired.
Through 22 career fights, Formella managed to pick up wins every single time he stepped into the ring. But the squared circle will feel somewhat different as he will be making his U.S debut.
When Porter looks to the left, he notices that both of his former opponents in Garcia and Spence Jr. are set to square off in November. When he looks to the right, talks between Thurman and current WBO belt holder Terence Crawford have intensified. Even when he looks straight ahead to his matchup with Formella, Porter notices Sergey Lipinets vs Kudratillo Abdukakhorov for the interim IBF title in his peripheral vision.
Meanwhile, Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs) is stuck facing a virtual unknown.
While he isn’t overlooking his opponent this upcoming weekend, Porter does wish a certain eight division world champion would pick up the phone and give him a call.
“That’s on Manny and his team,” said Porter to FightHype when asked about a possible Manny Pacquiao fight. “He’s earned the right to do what he wants to do.”
With Pacquiao seemingly more interested in facing either Crawford or former four division world champion Mikey Garcia, Porter can’t help but scratch his head and wonder why he isn’t in the running. The skills are obvious, but if we cast that aside and look at their possible matchup from an entertainment standpoint, then Porter is even more convinced that he should be facing him this weekend and not Formella.
“There’s a lot of history there with myself and Manny Pacquiao,” explained Porter. “If you look at us as fighters, in the welterweight division, we are the most exciting. You know what’s going to happen when Shawn Porter steps into the ring and Manny Pacquiao. We never disappoint.”
Even at the age of 41, Pacquiao has put away his walking cane and given fighters of this generation a boxing lesson in the ring. Most recently, the current WBA titlist was seen handing Thurman the first loss of his professional career.
Porter was there live for their contest, and while he knows how dangerous Pacquiao is in the ring, he also fully believes that their contest would end in only one way if they matched up.
“I’m confident that I would beat him in a fight. We’ve seen in the past where a great fighter comes along and beats a fighter that was great. That’s what would happen.”
