Shawn Porter, never gets the respect he deserves.

Shawn Porter is one of the best fighters of his generation, but he is criminally underrated and never given full credit for the accolades both in the amateurs and the professional boxing game that he has accomplished. I wrote about this a year or so ago, about how Shawn Porter’s unorthodox style is typically always interpreted wrong and almost always belittled as “…he is just running inside on his opponent.”

When re-watching his bout with Keith Thurman, one thing stood out to me was the fact that Porter fights more behind the jab than most give him credit for and though he prefers to fight on the inside, it is volume with logic and ferocity, not volume for the sake of volume, which is an overused trope when describing his style. Yet, Porter is a blue-collar boxer, one from the battleground state of Ohio, that has had to fight his way to the top of the division and found himself in the elite tier.

“This is a huge fight. It’s the biggest fight of my career and my life. I’ve been doing this since I was eight and I can’t think of an opportunity that I’ve wanted more in my life. This is my Super Bowl.” said Porter to a packed group of credentialed media at Wednesday’s media workout ahead of the Saturday night Showtime clash in Brooklyn, New York.

Porter’s biggest wins in fact came when Porter was the underdog facing De’von Alexander to win the IBF welterweight title at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York as well as defeating Adrien Broner. That being said, more often than not, Porter is written off as a plodding brawler, as though he doesn’t have tactics, will and a work ethic that is unmatched by many. It is as though a lot of writers want to act like Porter constantly gets lucky as though talent or hard work hasn’t played a part.

Porter envision the fight playing out already as he reflected at the media day.

“The Kell Brook fight is only on my mind because I know that’s a fight someone will watch to try to figure out how to stop me. He’s going to try and hold like in that fight and do it even more than Brook did. Other than that, he has no chance of catching me coming in.” said Porter, when asked what he thinks Garcia’s game plan might be.

The biggest thing with Shawn Porter is he always comes in shape, which sadly a lot of boxers even at the highest levels can’t same the same for. Porter comes to the ring ready to work for 12 hard rounds and give you everything he had and in his two losses to Kell Brook and Keith Thurman, Porter got stronger the later the fight went as his opposition got weaker.

In his private gym during a media workout a few weeks prior to the bout Porter reflected upon his fight with Danny Garcia in sheer honesty.

“I love it, man. This when the grind really begins and you focus more than ever now.” said Porter.

Porter, a seasoned veteran, has a mural at his home gym, The Porter Hy-Performance Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, in what used to be the Hit Factory, that reads Shawn Porter, two-time world champion, for that to be true, Porter would have to win on Saturday. This is something Porter is eager to attempt to do.

“I think that my ability to mix it up is going to create a problem for him. The variance in my styles and punches is going to be too much for him. I’m going to keep him on his toes, keep him guessing and keep him off balance. That’s the key to winning Saturday.” said Porter.

Porter is a likable fighter, who has done things the right way, worked hard, fought tough opposition, never had a problem outside of the ring and has a close relationship with his father, who also happens to be his coach as well. Porter is a fighter that in many ways, the sport of boxing should embrace.

“I just don’t think Danny can handle me. He says I’m tailor-made for him, but we’ll see on Saturday night.” said Porter

On Saturday night, September 8th in Brooklyn, New York at the prestigious, Barclays Center, the venue, Porter’s opponent, opened the building to boxing with when he faced Erik Morales, Porter has a chance to make history.