Friday Night Fights: Shawn Porter survives first pro test

Unbeaten junior middleweight prospect Shawn Porter survived his first professional test from Russell Jordan, winning a 10-round unanimous decision in Cleveland.

Porter (13-0, 10 KO) struggled with the tall, awkward Jordan, a southpaw who frequently out-fought the shorter Porter inside, making for a fight that sort of looked like Porter against an imitation Paul Williams. Porter, at 5'7", had the 6'2" Jordan towering over him all night, but did turn it on late to earn the decision victory.

Still, at least one of the scorecards was ridiculous. Two cards were 97-92 (Jordan questionably lost a point for spitting out his mouthpiece), but the third was 100-89 from judge Eugene Glenn, who also was the guy that gave Tito Mendoza a 117-111 card over Zsolt Erdei in a fight Erdei clearly won. We even managed to call the "surprising" sweep score for Porter in the live thread, because it just felt like that was going to happen.

Jordan falls to 15-7 (10 KO) with the loss.

For Porter, it was a learning experience. He definitely won the fight and I don't think anyone would argue with the decision that he won. The 100-89 card was certainly ridiculous, but he won the fight for sure. But the 22-year-old really did get his first test as a pro, and I'll say now that if it is indeed possible for Porter to make 147 pounds and still be strong, he and his team should definitely consider it. He's a very small junior middleweight in terms of height, though he is thick through the shoulders and upper body, which might make it hard for him to drop in weight. He's not in any way in bad shape, and I don't know that he can make welterweight. And if he'd lose what he has now, he shouldn't. But if he can, it's definitely something to consider for a while.

He did turn up the heat late, finally getting some good work done inside. And I'm also not discounting that Jordan is an awkward, tricky opponent, or that Porter is quite inexperienced and still a damn good prospect. He also did pass the test, for all intents and purposes. Maybe he'll be fine at 154 and will really benefit from the work he got from Jordan.

In the co-feature, Lanard Lane (11-0, 7 KO) stayed unbeaten in a very entertaining scrap with Martin Tucker (7-5, 3 KO). Tucker was outgunned and overpowered for the vast majority of the fight, and mostly just took a hell of a beating, but like Porter, Lane at least got some good work tonight and some rounds in. Lane was really never in danger, but Tucker did find some holes in his defense, especially early in the fight. Lane, 27, won on scores of 80-71, 78-74 and 77-75. I didn't do a round-by-round, but just scoring along I had it 78-74 for Lane.