As Fox doubles down on its investment in Premier Boxing Champions, several boxers are reaping the benefits, including WBC welterweight champion Shawn Porter.
Porter has been serving as one of the analysts for "Inside PBC Boxing," a boxing show on Fox Sports 1 that serves as the weekly show covering all things within Premier Boxing Champions.
The welterweight champion had been preparing for his latest title defense against Yordenis Ugas on March 9, which is why he has not appeared on the show in recent weeks. But in an interview with Fightful, Porter was ecstatic when asked about his time on television. Porter is still among the best welterweights in the world, but does admit that he's always considered a career in television once his in-ring career is done.
“I love it! It’s something that I always wanted to do. It’s something that I definitely pursue even if I wasn’t doing it now for Fox. Whenever I decide to retire, that was going to be one of the next steps for me. So for me to have this opportunity right now and just to be grow and be a part of the business while I’m still doing it is really exciting for me. Once I’m done with boxing, I can put all my time and energy into that. I’ve already began to grow and learn. It’s going to get even better for me once I’m done with boxing,” Porter said.
So does that mean that Porter could go down the path of a broadcaster, doing commentary on fights as Paulie Malignaggi and Timothy Bradley Jr. are doing on a regular basis for Showtime and ESPN, respectively? The current WBC champion certainly thinks so.
“One-hundred percent, whether that’s with Fox or Showtime, Spike TV (now known as Paramount Network), even radio. I love it and I’m looking forward into venturing to that even more and I’m looking to dig in and grow and learn and be more prolific as I am in boxing,” Porter said.
But Porter wasn't the only multi-time world champion to be a regular on "Inside PBC Boxing." Three-division world champion Abner Mares had been Porter's on-air partner for many weeks. But when news hit that Mares is dealing with a detached retina, forcing him to withdraw from his upcoming super featherweight title challenge against Gervonta Davis in early February, the boxing world was in shock. Porter's immediate reaction when he first the news was concern for his colleague and the immediate backlash Mares may have received with people on social media claiming Mares was ducking Davis.
“When I heard the news, I was, not disappointed, but I was concerned for Abner. The thing for Abner, when you try to move up a weight class and take on a heavy hitter that everyone is telling you that you can’t beat and they’re asking you why, then you’re trying to convince everyone that you can do it and then something like this happens, it gives the perception that he didn’t want the fight. It gives the perception that he ran away from the fight. That isn’t the case. I know Abner is a tremendous athlete. He’s a professional from top to bottom, beginning to end and I know if he had it his way, he would have stepped into that ring. I was just concerned for him. I know that his heart was broken and I’m sure that his confidence with everyone questioning him took a toll on him. That was really my concern about the fight not going the way he needed to go,” Porter said.
Porter successfully retained his WBC title against Ugas in the main event of a PBC on Fox card, winning a split decision.
The full interview between Porter and Fightful can be seen in the video at the top of the page.
