Shawn Porter Beats Danny Garcia via Decision to Win WBC Welterweight Belt

In a relentless, back-and-forth bout between two of the top fighters at 147 pounds, Shawn Porter was able to convince the judges he did just enough to defeat Danny Garcia and win the WBC world welterweight title by unanimous decision Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

CBS Sports' Brian Campbell provided the cards:

Terence Crawford, one of the top boxers in the sport and a fellow welterweight, called it correctly for Porter:

Porter was much more active during the fight, working the body and keeping his feet and hands moving through each round. Garcia withstood many of Porter's charges and was able to put together some fine counterpunches throughout the fight.

After the bout, IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. came into the ring and said he would love to fight Porter. Porter responded in kind, saying it would be the "easiest fight to make in boxing," per the Showtime broadcast.

For Garcia, this was just the second loss of his career. The first came against Keith Thurman in 2017, when he lost the very same belt he was working to win back Saturday night.

With Porter's aggressive, hard-charging style, timing was always going to be the key for Garcia. He did a fine job of lining him up in the first round, per PBC:

Porter opted for sticking the jab and then following it inside with a barrage of punches. It worked in his favor sometimes, but it allowed Garcia to land several thudding shots. A brilliant overhand right from Garcia seemed to hurt Porter, and a left hook to the body likely lingered well beyond the third frame.

Rappler's Ryan Songalia felt Garcia was proving he was the better pugilist of the two early on:

Porter put together an excellent fourth round by making it the brawling, close-range slugfest he loves. That seemed to spark something in him, as he kept up the bullying behavior, and it led to some excellent sequences.

The back-and-forth bout and the contrast in styles made it an entertaining fight, though difficult to parse. You could make a case for either fighter taking control by the middle rounds. Here's how Sporting News's Andreas Hale and ESPN's Dan Rafael saw it at the midway point:

Showtime Boxing provided another example of the two fighters doing what they do best:

Porter's ability to force the issue even as he absorbed some thundering punches was impressive. It kept the pace up, the sound of the gloves making contact akin to the pop-pop-pop of a fireworks show finale. Porter's activity overwhelmed Garcia at times, but the latter was able to counter effectively, especially with the left hook. His jab was nonexistent, but Garcia made up for it with precision power punching.

Here's how PBC described the relentless action as the fight drew to a close:

Awkward footwork allowed Porter to get in some solid counterpunches of his own, and he did well to take away the space Garcia needed to line up his shots. In the end, the judges liked the work he did in this bout better and awarded him with a unanimous decision.

A fight between Porter and Spence would be great for the division, but it's possible that Thurman could come into play here. Thurman was the holder of the WBC title but had to vacate it because of inactivity. If he is cleared to fight soon, he might want to get back the belt he had to give up without a fight. Either way, Porter's career still looks bright, as he has another championship bout in his future.