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Live blog: Shawn Porter clobbers Adrien Broner in unanimous-decision win

Knockdown in the final round not enough for Broner to overcome deficit

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L.E. Baskow

Shawn Porter is all smiles as he is announced the winner over Adrien Broner during the Premier Boxing Championships on Saturday, June 20, 2015, at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Updated Saturday, June 20, 2015 | 8:25 p.m.

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An electric final round followed an otherwise-sluggish fight between Adrien Broner and Shawn Porter on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

People in the near-capacity crowd sprung to their feet when Broner knocked Porter down with a left hook early in the 12th round, but it was much too late to mean anything. Porter had picked Broner apart to that point and held on to win a unanimous decision (118-108, 115-111, 114-112) in a 144-pound catchweight fight headlining the Premier Boxing Champions card.

“AB caught Shawn with that punch, but Shawn showed a champion’s heart and came back,” Ken Porter, Shawn’s father and trainer, said in the ring afterward.

Porter wasn’t put in any compromising positions through the first 11 rounds. He was the one rocking Broner repeatedly, landing 99 power punches, according to CompuBox.

Broner could only muster 68 of the power variety and went 88-for-309 total in the punching department. Porter managed a 149-for-590 rate.

“That’s how you beat a great fighter,” Porter said. “We wanted to established dominance.”

Broner feigned dominance in the build-up to the fight, going as far as standing over Porter during an open workout and declaring him easy competition. He wasn’t so confident in the fight.

Broner repeatedly held Porter, getting warned for the infraction several times until referee Tony Weeks finally deducted a point in the 11th round. It was the loudest the fans responded the whole fight at the time, as they sarcastically gave Weeks a standing ovation.

“At the end of the day, great champions can take a loss like they take a win,” Broner said after the fight.

No championship was on the line Saturday night, as both fighters previously lost their titles in upsets. That doesn’t undermine what the victory could mean to Porter, though.

It sets him up for a big-money fight against one of the many other big names in the welterweight division, perhaps including Floyd Mayweather Jr. With his Mayweather Promotions staging Saturday’s Premier Boxing Champions card, boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter was ringside to watch Porter dismantle his close friend Broner.

Another Mayweather training partner fared better in the co-main event. Errol Spence Jr. knocked out Phil Lo Greco at 1:50 of the third round to stay undefeated and called out Keith Thurman after the victory. Spence wants the fight to take place on the undercard of Mayweather’s next bout.

Check back to lasvegassun.com later for more coverage, and find our round-by-round live blog below.

The Battle of Ohio takes place tonight in Las Vegas.

Two of the top fighters in the world, Adrien Broner (31-1, 22 KOs) and Shawn Porter (25-1-1, 16 KOs), hail from the Buckeye State, but a venue away from the rust belt was necessary to match the magnitude of the matchup. Premier Boxing Champions, the fledgling television series headed by boxing magnate Al Haymon, settled on boxing’s mecca — the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Broner vs. Porter headlines a main card that airs at 5:30 p.m. on NBC. It’s the second PBC event to take place in its home of Las Vegas, following March’s inaugural offering where Broner beat John Molina Jr. by unanimous decision.

The victory, paired with Porter knocking out Erick Boone the next week in Carson Calif., finally concluded the collision course the two had been on for several years. Porter agreed to Broner’s demand of a 144-pound catch weight despite both fighters formerly holding 147-pound welterweight titles, and the bout was booked for tonight.

Choosing Las Vegas was controversial given the way the two fighters have represented Ohio throughout their careers. Broner was one of the top prospects in the sport for years despite growing up around crime on the streets of Cincinnati.

The Akron, Ohio, native Porter wasn’t considered as destined for greatness as Broner but he punched his way up the ranks for years before peaking with wins over Devon Alexander and Paulie Malignaggi last year.

He lost his title in his next fight, though, in a unanimous decision loss to Kell Brook. It was nine months after Broner lost his own championship in an upset unanimous-decision loss to Marcos Maidana.

The similar trajectory of their careers’ make Broner vs. Porter one of the more competitive major fights in recent memory. The same can’t be said for the other featured bout on NBC.

Former Floyd Mayweather Jr. sparring partner Errol Spence Jr. (16-0, 13 KOs) will set the stage for Broner vs. Porter in a welterweight bout against Phil Le Greco (26-1, 14 KOs). The 25-year-old Spence, who fights out of Dallas, is a 10-to-1 favorite over the Toronto-based Le Greco.

Porter handed Le Greco his only loss, a unanimous-decision two years ago. Within a couple hours, either Broner or Porter will have another loss to overcome in their route to boxing superstardom.

Stay tuned to lasvegassun.com for a round-by-round live blog and scoring of Broner vs. Porter.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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