For some the Welterweight division is the division when it comes to boxing right now. For me though the division, aside from 3 or 4 names, is actually quite uninteresting. That's not to say it's boring but it lacks fighters that generally whet my appetite. Sure there is the likes of Timothy Bradley and even Manny Pacquiao fighting, at least some of their fights, at 147 but on the other hand you also have fighters like Devon Alexander (25-1, 14).
Alexander, the IBF Welterweight champion, is without a doubt a talented young man, in fact the 26 year old is almost certainly in the top 25 pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. However he is also incredibly tiresome to watch. At his best he can look great but all too often he exemplifies the negativity that turns people away from boxing. He seems to lack personality out of the ring and lacks the style in the ring to make up for it.
A former Don King fighter Alexander started his career with a lot of promise and won his first 21 fights including victories over Junior Witter, Juan Urango and Andriy Kotelnik. Unfortunately the victory over Kotelnik was controversial and then followed by a poor performance against Timothy. From then on Alexander seemed to go from promising youngster to unexciting boredom.
Sure Alexander has the talent to to be a world champion, heck he currently is, but he'll never be a fighter who has a huge fan base. His style, which is that of a boxer, just lacks the class or the power to be a star. He'll be one of those fighters who will flirt with being a top tied talent but will never that good.
Another fighter who once looked exceptional though has failed to live up to expectation is Shawn Porter (22-0-1, 14). Porter turned pro with a reputation of being an aggressive hard hitting inside fighter made for the professional ranks. Unfortunately his power's been found to not be great and whilst he is aggressively minded he's far from exciting.
Having been a professional since 2008 Porter's most notable victories have come against Alfonso Gomez and Julio Diaz. No offense to those two individuals but the fact Porter struggled with both men sums up why I'm so unexcited by this fight and by Porter. He's a man who, like Andre Berto, promises a lot but delivers little in terms substance.
The lack of substance in Porter will cost him here as he puts his head down, attacks blindly but gets picked off, tied up and fails to get through the defenses of Alexander as we end up with a dull but clear decision in favour of the champion.
Prediction-A sleep inducing UD for Alexander.
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