Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter: Winner, Scorecard and Reaction

Now, this is how you fight.

On Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, WBA welterweight champion Keith "One Time" Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) edged Showtime Shawn Porter (26-2-1) in a unanimous-decision victory to retain his title.

ESPN.com's Dan Rafael tweeted the judges' scorecards:

This was the first fight CBS has broadcast in prime time in 38 years, and it was worth the wait. Here's a taste of some of the Twitter reactions from Premier Boxing Champions, Laceupboxing and Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole:

They say styles make fights, and that adage was never more true than it was Saturday night, as this is a candidate for fight of the year.

Porter's hard-charging style makes all of his opponents uncomfortable, and Thurman was no exception. In the second and third rounds, he bullied Thurman against the ropes and cut the angles, eliminating the champion's ability to escape.

Thurman regained the control he established in the first round by countering Porter when he was lunging. He rocked the Akron, Ohio, native with hard right hands and wobbled him in the fourth round.

Ever the rugged warrior, Porter regained his wherewithal and returned fire. Around the fifth round, it was clear: We were witnessing a special bout.

Through the middle rounds, the back-and-forth action drew a tremendous roar from the Barclays crowd and even two standing ovations at the end of frames.

Thurman continued to rip counter power shots, and Porter did his best work with Thurman's back against the ropes. Judging these rounds was no easy job, as Porter's aggression or Thurman's more accurate, effective punching could have swayed the scoring either way.

According to the CBS broadcast, Porter connected on 236 of 662 (36 percent) punches thrown, and Thurman landed 235 of 539 (44 percent).

In the end, the latter won.

Still, in a fight this close and exciting, a rematch seems almost academic.

Per ESPN Boxing, both fighters are willing:

"

“I would give him a rematch. It was a great fight. He was a great opponent." - @keithfthurmanjr on @ShowtimeShawnP #ThurmanPorter

— ESPN Boxing (@ESPNBoxing) June 26, 2016"

"

"Come on now, we need that rematch. I think the fans want that rematch." - @ShowtimeShawnP

— ESPN Boxing (@ESPNBoxing) June 26, 2016"

You won't get much of an argument from most people in the boxing community.

There are options for either man. The winner is mandated to face former 140-pound champion Danny Garcia next, but the demand for a rematch might win out. It's happened plenty of times in the past. Sometimes it's to the chagrin of the boxing community, but in this case, bypassing the mandatory challenger might be applauded.

The fight was set up to be a showcase for the sport on prime-time TV, and it accomplished that goal in a big way.