Thurman, who is unbeaten in his pro career, is a known knockout artist, having a KO rating of 81 percent. But for whatever reason, Thurman has not scored a knockout victory since his last TKO win over Jesús Soto Karass in 2013.
“I’m definitely going for the knockout.” Thurman said during the opening of his training camp to media in St. Petersburg, Florida early this month.
“I’m going for the knockout. I’ve stated it before. My hands are itching for a knockout. I’m ‘One Time,’ all the time. That’s my philosophy. Every single time I step into the ring I’m looking for the knockout. We don’t get paid for overtime,” he said.
Thurman takes pride in knocking out almost all of his opponents at least until 2014 when he engaged Julio Díaz in a title fight that ended in a technical decision in his favor. Read more:
There was no knockdown in the 12-round title fight but It was an all-action fight which would likely become a candidate for the Fight of the Year award..
Porter fought gallantly throughout the fight and landing on targets with heavy shots but Thurman held on as he scored from his clear and most telling shots.
All three judges scored the fight at 115-113 in favor of Thurman. Fytehype which covered the fight as shown here[/url,] had it at 116-112 for Thurman.
“I would do a rematch. It was a great fight. He’s a great opponent,” [url=http://www.cbssports.com/boxing/news/keith-thurman-vs-shawn-porter-fight-card-start-time-odds-how-to-watch-on-tv/ t=_blank]said Thurman, who improved to 27-0 and defended his full-fledged title for the first time. “I was unable to drop him. He’s a good athlete,” Thurman added.
For his part, Porter believes the fans need a rematch and indicated that he would go for it.
“We worked hard. He’s a great champion,” Porter said. “I’m satisfied. I feel good. We need that rematch. I think the fans want that rematch.”
With his loss, Porter’s career record fell to 26-2-1.