A fighter is in trouble when he or she can’t do a single thing better than the opponent. That’s the position Sebastian Formella was in against Shawn Porter on Saturday at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. And the result was predictable.
Porter outclassed the German in almost every conceivable way, winning the 12-round welterweight title eliminator by a shutout decision.
The former two-time 147-pounder couldn’t seriously hurt the durable Formella and was unable to stop him, which was a moral victory for the loser. Otherwise, Porter couldn’t have won much more convincingly.
“He was tough,” Porter said. “I think after about six rounds, by dad said, ‘OK, he’s taking these punches and he’s going to keep taking them.’ So keep the pressure on him and keep dogging him.”
Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) took a few minutes to feel out Formella (22-1, 10 KOs) after the opening bell but, by the second round, he was dogging his prey on full throttle. He suffocated Formella with a wide array of quick, accurate punches that made it difficult for the visitor to get anything done.
The outcome seemed settled only three or four rounds into the fight, making the remainder of the fight a formality. The only question was whether Porter could get the knockout.
To his credit, Formella, well aware of his predicament but determined, never shifted into survive mode. He’s a pretty good, elusive boxer – with a good chin — who made Porter work for the victory and never stopped trying to land punches.
The problem for Formella was that he had neither the power to deter Porter nor the ability to offset the winner’s attack in any significant way.
The CompuBox stats provide an idea of Porter’s dominance. He landed a career-high 304 of 785 punches (39%) overall, compared to 148 of 586 (25%) for Formella. And 216 of the shots Porter landed were power punches, compared to only 70 for Formella.
Hence the shutout on the cards.
With the victory, Porter, who lost his title to Errol Spence Jr. in a classic brawl last September, remains in position to get another shot at one of the three beltholders – Spence, Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford – or at least face a top-tier 147-pounder.
Porter was asked after the fight Saturday to look into a camera and send his rivals a message. He held up a mouthpiece that read, “And still,” which normally would signify a successful title defense. He was making a different statement.
“And still!” he said. “I’m still here, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”
In a preliminary bout, middleweight prospect Joey Spencer (11-0, 8 KOs) stopped Shawn West (5-2, 3 KOs) at 1:21 of Round 4 of a scheduled six-round bout. Spencer put West down once in the second round and again in the fourth.
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