Shawn “Showtime” Porter vs Kell “Special
K” Brook
This right here might be the most
interesting fight of all summer. I guaransheed this is going to be a great
fight no matter the duration. Well..if it ends in the 1st or 2nd
not so much, but you get the point. This is a great stylistic matchup that
offers many questions of both of these young (relative) boxers. Will Kell Brook’s
relative inexperience play against him in this fight? Can Shawn Porter continue
his dominating, leaping ways against a fighter like Brook who possesses good size
and power? I think it’s fair to say an older above optimal division Julio Diaz
gave Shawn Porter problems and a C fighter in Carson Jones gave Kell Brook the
same issues in both of their 1st fights but both individuals
rectified that and more in the rematches. With every fight you come to a point
where you just have to think about the styles and tendencies more than just
purely overall performance in past fights. The relatively Micro over the Macro.
The Positives:
Shawn Porter. Powerful. His strength
is definitely his greatest asset. He fought at Middleweight in the amateurs I
believe and it’s obvious that he has this strength advantage over most
Welterweights. He can practically get inside and bull anyone. Excellent left
hook. Good enough hand speed. Incredible tenacity and body work.
Kell Brook: He’s tall, strong and
has excellent punching power in the WW division. He also has a really crisp jab
and pretty good fundamentals on his other punches. Definitely varies his attack
to the head and body. He also has good movement when he’s focused early on in
the fight.
The Negatives:
Porter is kinda undersized at the
division but that hasn’t hindered him yet. My bigger issues remain with the
lunging in and the wild swinging that he does often. At times it looks really
good when he lands but in fights with Julio Diaz I it left him open and he got
countered and hurt. In the Alexander fight you could see that as well but Devon
doesn’t have much power so he got away with it.
Brook hasn’t faced much in the
way of competition. Senchenko was a good win. There are a couple other solid
ones sprinkled through but this certainly is an issue. He also has some stamina
problems as evidenced with the Carson Jones I fight, where he was winning
pretty comfortably in the first half and let it slip away in the 2nd.
The Rundown:
I don’t believe Porter is the
puncher people have come to believe he is ever since he iced Paulie a couple
months ago. 2 Ko’s in his last 9 fights kind of validates that. I think the Alexander
fight was a great win but Devon is a guy who likes to clinch a lot instead of
using footwork to box and avoid. He also is just average defensively. He stood
there and got hit then clinched instead of sliding away and jabbing. Brook is a
big guy and probably does some of those things better than Alexander but his
hand speed isn’t elite or even close to it. Some would say he looks just an
ordinary fighter. We saw what happened in the Carson Jones fight where he was
bulled and looked just decent in the 2nd half. There is also no
significant reach advantage with both of them being at 69”. So Brook may have
the advantage in height but the reach which always tends to be more important
is a draw. I think neither is a legendary talent but both have an opportunity
to vault themselves into the elite with a win here.
For Porter, he needs to keep
doing what he’s doing and get inside on Brook and rough him up. We’ve seen that
Porter can fight going backwards at times but he’s more comfortable being the aggressor.
If he dedicates to the body then he can tire Brook out and that bodes well for
the later rounds of the fight. He does need to limit the wild swings and lunges
focus a bit more on defense when he’s coming forward.
For Brook, I think boxing this guy
and countering him is a good way to go. Porter likes to lunge and get wild a lot
and leaves his chin exposed when he’s coming in so I know there will be plenty
of opportunities for Kell to tag him. But he also needs to stay on the move and
limit what Porter does when tie ups occur.
Switching rhythm on Porter is a good idea as well. You can box and move
but also come forward and throw him for a loop. Make him think a bit more about
his options.
I like Brook in this fight if he
can execute the gameplan well enough over 12 rounds. Brook +185
Sakio Bika vs Anthony Dirrell 2
The last time these 2 fought it
resulted in a Draw and as you know, draws really do suck. Anyways, the last
fight I thought the not as highly touted Dirrell brother did enough to win the
fight but the judges disagreed. He did let Bika’s style get to his head and as
Bika fights go(very ugly), it turned into a true mess. The fight was still
pretty entertaining, though.
Bika, we know what he is at this point.
He’s a physical, sloppy and some would say, dirty fighter, who has a great
resume and has given everyone from Joe Calzaghe to Andre Ward a tough fight. He
is up there in age so who knows how he looks coming out.
Dirrell is the less heralded
brother and less skilled(but still skilled) but probably possesses more power
than his brother. He has good technical skills and speed and isn’t afraid to
engage in a fight.
The key for Bika is to…well..do
what Bika does. Make it an ugly ass fight and annoy his opponent so much he
gets off his game. He has good power but records can be a little deceiving
based on the quality of opponent you face. If he can be Sakio Bika for 12
rounds then I think he can escape with a decision this time around.
Dirrell…you are the better
technical fighter by far. Faster and better defensively. Keep the jab out
there. Make sure you try to stay away from the clinches that Bika will ensure
happens. Basically he needs to be first here at all times and avoid the lulls
that led to him giving away rounds. Dirrell hurt Bika a couple times and even
knocked him down once so we know his power is legit and a chance may be there
again.
Dirrell -200 Younger fighter, more to prove here. Bika
has never been knocked out before but I could see it happening.
