In this video interview with our colleagues at Fight Hub TV, Shawn Porter’s father/trainer talks about training camp for the Danny Garcia fight and his thoughts on the match-up. Check out what he had to say...
Kenny Porter on what’s been the focus of training camp for Shawn:
“Up to this point the focus has been on Shawn, just getting Shawn sharp, getting Shawn in that top fitness level of conditioning that he’ll be able to throw non-stop punches for 12 rounds. And that’s what we been focusing on, we been focusing on getting him ready...
“We haven’t gotten to that point in camp where we start working on the strategy for the guy that we’re fighting. We’re working on making sure Shawn is ready.”
On what sticks out to him about Danny Garcia that he believes they can expose:
“I have not watched [Garcia]...I’ve seen him live. I’ve never been impressed. He’s never been impressive to me. I mean how impressive are you — I thought he was in a tit-for-tat battle with Brandon [Rios] until he caught Brandon. I thought that Amir Khan was beating him the whole entire way until he landed the punch. I thought the guy Herrera beat him and should’ve got a decision in Puerto Rico. I thought that he was going back and forth with [Robert Guerrero] in California when he fought for the WBC title...”
On if he thinks Garcia has been overrated:
“No, I’m not saying anybody in boxing is overrated. Okay. I’m not impressed with impressed with what happened with Herrera, not impressed with what happened with Guerrero, I’m not impressed with what happened with Paulie Malignaggi — I think it took him 9 or 10, Shawn got him out of there in 3 or 4. You know, I’m not impressed with what he did with Lamont [Peterson]. Lamont could’ve just as easily got that decision. What he did with Keith Thurman STUNK! It was a horrible — to me, it was a horrible performance on his behalf.
“I mean literally there was a point, I remember him saying in the fight, he put his hands out like ‘Come on, fight me!’ Well, you gotta be able to cut the ring off as well as fight. And if you can’t cut the ring off then this guy is going to outbox you and that’s what I thought Keith did.
“I wasn’t impressed with any of those fights, so no, I have not studied him even though I have actually sat ringside at the Thurman and Garcia fight. By the fourth round, going into the fifth, the fans were booing [shrugs]. So he hasn’t impressed me. I’ll probably go study and see things that I haven’t seen live on tape and see ‘yeah, ok, we gotta work for this and we gotta watch out for that, and we gotta prepare for this’ but no, I’m not impressed.”
On where he thinks Shawn can still improve as a fighter:
“Oh, he’s always got things to improve on. You know, my main thing with Shawn has always been not to rely on athletic ability. Basics and fundamentals and strategy is what I want him to work on and to reply on so we’re still working on that with him. Until the day he’s done we’re still gonna work on the basics, the fundamentals, and try to get him to look for that fight where he can do these things and go back and look at the tape and be impressed that he was able to stay in that mode for the entire fight.
“He did it for 11 to 11 1⁄2 rounds with Adrien Broner. But then there was a mental lapse — he actually, if you saw the fight, if you go back and look at the tape, he actually saw the punch coming, looked at the punch coming, and basically said ‘oh shit.’ Well if you have time to say ‘oh shit’ you got time to throw your hand up, or you got time to duck the punch. But his focus wasn’t there...to improve everything he’s doing he’s gotta focus.”
On what will be the focus in camp from now through fight time:
“Well that will be one of the main things: focus. But you know, getting better at sparring. You know, he’s been sparring but we need more rounds, we need more guys that can come in here and push him. Like I said, I got some guys in here doing some good work now but we’re gonna be cranking it up every week — so they’re gonna have to crank it up every week...then at some point here, in the next couple of weeks, there will be a strategy that we put together for him. But I think it’s mainly — I really do — it’s mainly about making sure he can do all the things I want him to do. ‘Cause that’s a lot for Danny to have to deal with. I think it is.
“He’s gotta deal with a guy that’s aggressive, he’s gotta deal with a guy that’s fast, he’s gotta deal with a guy that’s strong, he’s gotta deal with a guy that can move, he’s gotta deal with a guy that’s got the ability to get on the inside and really work hard and never get tired. So he’s got a lot to deal with.”
On Garcia saying he wants to stand toe-to-toe and fight:
“Of course he does, because he knows he can’t catch up to Shawn. He knows his feet will never get nowhere near Shawn’s. He couldn’t get nowhere near Lamont Peterson and he couldn’t get anywhere near Keith Thurman when they moved on him. So he’s got a problem with his footwork! And it’s a little too late to get some feet now.
“So he wants to try to goad somebody into doing that but yes, we’re gonna fight him in the middle, we’re gonna fight him in the corner, and we’re gonna fight him on the ropes, and we’re gonna fight his ass in the locker room! We’re gonna fight him on the way to Philadelphia, on the toll booth. Whatever it takes, we’re fighting!”