The undefeated current WBA welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman is the boxing betting favorite to beat Shaw ‘Showtime’ Porter on June 25th, 2016 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and retain his title. The following are the odds for people who bet on boxing:
Shawn Porter +185
Keith Thurman -225
Thurman is ranked as the world’s No. 1 welterweight and the 5th best pound-for-pound. One Time is known for his punching power – having won 22 of his 27 fights by knockout. Following a bout with Francisco Garcia that was ruled a no contest, Thurman has won his last 18 matches in row – for all intents and purposes, he is unbeaten. Thurman won the WBA welterweight title when he knocked out Argentine Diego Gabriel Chavez with a left hook in the 10th in July, 2013.
His most recent fight saw him take on Luis Collazo; the bout was stopped in the 7th round after the latter sustained a vision-blocking injury near his eye. Thurman has also successfully defended the title against Jesús Soto Karass, Julio Díaz, Leonard Bundu, and Robert Guerrero – and according to boxing betting odds, he is expected to do the same with Porter.
Speaking of Showtime, people who bet on boxing should know he has won as many fights as Thurman (26; 16 via KO), but also has a loss to his name, given him by Kell Brook in 2014 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California and which cost him the IBF welterweight title. Following that defeat, Porter bested Erick Bone and Adrien Broner en route to facing Thurman.
Now Porter has a chance to wear gold around his waist again, but first he has to beat boxing betting favorite and title-holder Thurman. But One Time is not scared. In fact, he literally said “nobody’s scared of Shawn Porter.” Or of Virginia Woolf.
Thurman understands that he doesn’t get paid by the hour, which is why he will be, as usual, looking for the knockout. “My hands are itching for a knockout,” he said. I’d get that looked at if I were him. Could be serious. The winner of the fight – which was scheduled for March before Thurman was involved in a minor car accident – will go on to face David Avanesyan for the interim WBA welterweight championship.
By the way, the delay may have benefitted Porter, who has said that he is more ready for Thurman than he was in March. But it isn’t as if expectations are not at an all time high; after all, this will be the first prime-time CBS fight since the first Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks clash in 1978.