Shawn Porter: Zeroing in on Manny Pacquiao

The list issued by members of Team Pacquiao in November
originally consisted of Mikey Garcia, Danny Garcia, and Shawn Porter. In recent
days, however, two of those three fighters have fallen to the side.

Former junior welterweight and welterweight champ Danny
Garcia, perhaps feeling the need for one more tune-up bout before wading back
into deep waters, signed on to fight Ivan Redkach in late January.

And, most recently, former four-division world champ Mikey
Garcia has opted to sign himself to a one-fight deal with DAZN against an
opponent to be named, who will most definitely not be Manny Pacquiao.

This leaves Porter, a former sparring mate of Pacquiao’s,
all alone on that shortlist of possible opponents for the Filipino icon’s
return. The two-time welterweight titlist has recently been linked to a spot as
Terence Crawford’s next opponent, but a Pacquiao fight would be more lucrative
and offer a bigger showcase for his talents—and he knows it.

"I do think that Manny is the more defining fight [for] me
as well," Porter recently told Boxingscene. "He’s also the number one guy on my
list."

Porter has courted the possibility of facing Pacquiao (and
pondered the ways to beat him) for quite some time now, telling ESNews back in
October:

"The fight with Manny Pacquiao and Shawn Porter – I think
that makes more than enough sense. If ya’ll want something exciting, if ya’ll
want a great fight, competitive fight you get that from Shawn Porter and Manny
Pacquiao…You know, I just think I know what it takes to beat Manny. I think
we saw a small glimpse to that when JuanMa (Marquez) knocked him out. I think I
kind of have that recipe already, so I think I know what to do."

Porter has shown a willingness to fight anyone and everyone
in the sport and a Pacquiao fight, aside from being a huge money haul, would be
a real challenge for the all-action battler. In his last fight, Porter gave
Errol Spence the toughest battle of his career, but came up a bit short on the
judges’ scorecards in a split decision defeat. In the past, Porter has beaten
Danny Garcia, Paulie Malignaggi, Adrien Broner, and several other top names
while coming up short in heated and close challenges against Keith Thurman and
Kell Brook. Through it all, the Akron, Ohio native has earned a reputation as
one of the most honest, earnest battlers in the game and as a fighter unafraid
to take on any and all challenges.

Pacquiao’s reputation and legacy, of course, are known to
all at this point. It could be safely assumed that a Pacquiao-Porter clash
would be a guaranteed war and a Fight of the Year-level battle.

As for obstacles standing in the way of this fight, well,
there don’t seem to be any, unless either side balks at the pairing for any
reason or at the money. Both fighters currently compete under the Premier
Boxing Champions (PBC) banner and in terms of career movement, the fight would
make sense for both parties. Competitively, the contest would surely thrill and
make for many highlight reel moments as, likely, a fairly salable pay-per-view
event.

After the beginning of the year, fans should have a better idea of who both Pacquiao and Porter will be facing next—but logic points to them facing each other.

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