Shawn Porter calls out Floyd Mayweather after easily taking down Adrien Broner

By Case Keefer (contact)

Saturday, June 20, 2015 | 11:45 p.m.

Shawn Porter lived out a few universal fantasies Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Not only did the 27-year-old boxer who recently moved to Las Vegas earn a seven-figure paycheck by dismantling a tormentor in Adrien Broner, he supplemented the high by essentially putting his boss on notice. Porter and his father/trainer Ken Porter called out Floyd Mayweather Jr., who served as the promoter of the Premier Boxing Champions card, after the unanimous-decision (118-108, 115-111, 114-112) victory over Broner.

“We’re going to do the battle for Las Vegas,” Ken Porter said. “We live on the same street, right down the street from Floyd — about a mile and a half. Don’t ignore us. Don’t act like the elephant’s not in the room.”

No one has ever trounced Mayweather the professional fighter. But he got a stiff rebuke on the largest stage in his still-embryonic career as the head of Mayweather Promotions, for which the Nevada State Athletic Commission approved for a promoter’s license less than a year ago.

After Saturday’s card concluded, Mayweather advocated a bout between the winners in the two headlining fights. Mayweather suggested Shawn Porter meet Errol Spence Jr., who scored a third-round knockout of Phil Lo Greco in the PBC co-main event, for a welterweight title in direct support of his next pay-per-view bout, scheduled for Sept. 12.

It’s a slot Shawn Porter declared was of no interest.

“I’m not looking for any more Mayweather undercards,” Porter said. “We were looking to get on the Mayweather-Pacquiao undercard. That didn’t happen. Now I’m not looking at watching him fight after I fight. I’m looking at fighting him.”

There’s a precedent for a win over Broner springing a fighter into a bout with Mayweather. Mayweather’s two meetings with Marcos Maidana were set up last year after the Argentine fighter handed Broner, whom the undefeated top pound-for-pound boxer in the world considers a close friend, the first loss of his career.

Shawn Porter beat Broner just as thoroughly as Maidana. Although he may not have converted on a pair of knockdowns like Maidana, Shawn Porter landed nearly double the punches of Broner and was never behind on a single scorecard.

But Mayweather came away underwhelmed, partially because of a left hook Broner landed to send Porter to the canvas early in the 12th round. Mayweather felt Shawn Porter unnecessarily put himself in a compromising position.

“He was straight ahead, up and down,” Mayweather said of Shawn Porter. “Whereas you’ve got guys like me who fight smart and take your best attribute away to make you resort to something you don’t like to do.”

Shawn Porter had no shame regarding the knockdown. To the contrary, he expressed pride in the way he responded.

He rallied once back on his feet, and fought at least even with Broner for the rest of the round. He thought there was value in suffering the first knockdown of his career.

“I honestly feel like, at some point, you need an experience like that to know what it feels like and work your way through it to show what you’re made of,” Shawn Porter said. “Not that I want that to happen, and I don’t think it will ever happen again, but obviously I came out a little too lax.”

Mayweather might just be a critic tough to impress. Either that, or he’s difficult to read.

Mayweather insisted his next opponent would be either Andre Berto or Karim Mayfield after Saturday’s card, which many found difficult to fathom. Berto and Mayfield have more defeats than victories over the past two years and are ranked far behind potential nemeses such as Shawn Porter and Amir Khan in Mayweather’s weight class.

But Mayweather labeled Spence, a former training partner, as the closest Shawn Porter could get to him.

“This is a guy they’re going to face,” Mayweather said. “They’re not going to face Floyd Mayweather.”

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