The September 8th grudge match between Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter at the Barclays Center in NY is rapidly approaching. Odds are finally out, and despite many pundits and boxing pros saying that Garcia won’t be able to handle the swarming pressure of Porter, all the top betting sites show Danny Garcia to be the favorite, make sure check their reviews across the board.
Where to start? How about the fact that this is a title fight for the now-vacant WBC welterweight belt that just a short time ago belonged to Danny Garcia. This is an interesting fight because the only reason it is even happening is that Danny Garcia broke Keith Thurman’s right elbow with a huge left to the body during his 2017 loss to Thurman. But since Keith Thurman had to have surgery on the elbow, he has not been able to defend and had to vacate the title. This opened the door for Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter who have both done enough work since then to become the WBC mandatories.
But how will this fight shake out? Danny Garcia is a -170 favorite, but that is basically pick’em odds in the world of boxing. And this is a grudge match. Ever since Shawn Porter jumped into the ring after Garcia’s win over Brandon Rios and started calling Danny out. We all know that Shawn has wanted this fight, even chasing Danny for some time, but interrupting Danny Garcia’s victory interview was not the right venue for that sort of thing. Let’s just say that Danny didn’t take too kindly to it, and the words began to fly.
Emotional fights can be a bit of a leveler, a handicap if you will. Because a fighter that is potentially much more skilled than another, might lose his head and step out of his game-plan. This could work to Shawn Porter’s advantage. He is more of a brawler, and if he can get Danny Garcia rattled enough to step outside of his game plan and brawl with him, he might be able to frustrate Garcia and make this a dirty fight tipping the favorite in his advantage.
Danny Garcia is small-ish for welterweight, but there’s not really anyone who hits harder than him. He has a freakish sort of power that is hard to explain. Think Bryce Howard; the guy smashes home runs that shouldn’t be possible with the natural size of his frame. Garcia got pushed around a lot by the Keith Thurman, which makes sense because Thurman’s walking weight is sufficiently more than Garcia’s, but Garcia hits harder than even him. Thurman’s broken elbow shows that. So if he can stay on his game-plan and stick to countering with his freakishly strong left and not let Shawn Porter pin him in the corner with his head on his chest throwing flurries of walloping punches, he can create a highlight real on Sept. 8th.
In a fight like this, anything can happen. But I think when it comes down to it, Shawn Porter is going to come rushing in like he always does, and at one point sooner or later, he’ll run right into one of Danny Garcia’s crisp left hands –which will either put him down or make him rethink trying run headlong at Garcia. Either is bad for Porter, because he doesn’t have the boxing skills and footwork to play Garcia’s game. So if Porter learns to respect Garcia’s punching power and backs off, then Danny is going to pick him apart. Remember, Porter got dropped by Broner, so he isn’t going to be able to sustain bombs by Garcia.
Many people will likely disagree with me, but I see Danny Garcia destroying Shawn Porter on September 8th. Garcia has the best chin in the business, so it would take a miracle shot by Porter to knock him out. So he is going to have to win by points and being the aggressor. But after Porter walks into a few big lefts, he is going to back up and then gets taken to technique school.
My Prediction: Porter gets KOd or TKOd