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It helps that he gets paid by Fox Sports to offer such insight, but Shawn Porter has remained passionate on his tracking the ongoing heavyweight rivalry between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.
The former two-time welterweight titlist—who serves as an in-studio expert analyst for Fox Sports’ Inside PBC (Premier Boxing Champions) Boxing series—was part of the massive broadcast team in the joint collaboration with ESPN to present the Pay-Per-View rematch this past February live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. England’s Fury (30-0-1, 21KOs) manhandled Wilder (42-1-1, 41KOs) en route to a 7th round stoppage to become a two-time lineal heavyweight champion.
The bout was far different from their first encounter nearly 15 months prior, where the two fought to a disputed draw in their December 2018 clash in Los Angeles, California. Wilder scored two late knockdowns to bail himself out of a massive deficit on the scorecards, but had no response in their rematch earlier this year.
“I think more than anything this second fight with Tyson Fury more than anything was a wakeup call,” Porter (30-3-1, 17KOs) theorized while hosting a live chat on the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) Facebook page. “There’s a process we go through as fighters along the way where we’re answering questions as we climb the ladder. What kind of fighter are we good against? What kind of fighter gives us trouble? What kind of fighter do we want to be?
“[Wilder] was knocking everybody out… and never really got a chance answer the questions a lot of us get asked along the way in becoming champion. I think it finally caught up with him. I’m looking forward to the trilogy. I hope this [coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic] doesn’t interfere from getting those guys in the ring. I’m looking forward to it.”
Less than a week after the fight, Wilder exercised an existing clause which called for the losing fighter to call for a third fight. Plans to stage the event in mid-July were pushed back due to the current global health crisis, with tentative plans in place for October 3 assuming the sport can resume at full strength by that point.
Even by that point, more than seven months will have passed and with the former heavyweight titlist from Tuscaloosa, Alabama already vowing to strengthen his current team. Fury took that step prior to the rematch, although the unbeaten heavyweight from Manchester, England took far more drastic measures—changing his entire team, training facility and even his diet heading into their sequel.
As much will now be observed with Wilder to see if he can make a third fight more competitive than has been the case for most of the past 19 rounds they’ve fought.
“I would love to see what (Wilder) can do differently in the ring against Tyson Fury,” wonders Porter. “I think that when you make that conscious decision, that’s when it happens. People that stop drinking or want to stop partying, it has to be a conscious decision. That second fight with Tyson Fury was a wakeup call to recognize that some things in his game need [to improve], not just to become champion… but to prove that [Wilder is] the best heavyweight in the world. I think that he easily went from number one to definitely being number two.
“Let’s also remember, Tyson Fury was basically born with gloves on his hands. His pedigree and experience as a true fighter is really what took him over the top in terms of being able to change trainers, changing training abilities. He enhanced who he was as a fighter and I don’t think Deontay knew how to do that. I think he know how to do that now.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox