Keith Thurman wants to be first man to stop Shawn Porter
Tuesday 26 April 2016 10:22, UK
WBA world welterweight champion Keith Thurman is confident he can better Kell Brook's victory over Shawn Porter.
The 27-year-old Thurman (26-0-KO22) faces former IBF king Porter (26-1-1-KO16) in New York on June 25 and believes he's the man to inflict a first stoppage defeat on the challenger.
In an interview reported on boxingscene.com, Thurman said: "Whenever I fight an opponent I personally know has never been stopped in his professional career, that always seems like a challenge to me.
I'm going to use my accuracy mixed in with my speed and power and hopefully deal damage.
"We know that I enjoy getting the KO and I enjoy stopping people. My nickname is 'One Time' for a reason so I'm looking forward to putting on a great performance.
"Kell Brook beat Shawn but he wasn't active in the early rounds and it wasn't much of a spectacular victory in my opinion. But he did start to separate himself from Shawn and it started to be clear to the spectators and the judges and they gave Kell Brook the fight.
"I think (Brook) was more accurate and what I've learned is that Shawn can tend to throw volume punches and not focus on accuracy. He tends to charge in, not focusing on the distance, and then sometimes smothers himself which makes his punches less effective.
"The one thing Porter doesn't have, in my opinion, is the accuracy. And I am going to use my defence in the way Kell Brook used his defence to negate Porter's offence.
"I'm going to use my accuracy mixed in with my speed and power and hopefully deal damage, and if we see damage dealt then we will not hesitate to make sure that the show ends early."
Thurman was scheduled to defend his title against Porter on March 13 but was forced to delay the bout due to minor injuries sustained in a car accident.
