Andre Berto vs. Shawn Porter: On Saturday night Showtime will air a title eliminator between Andre Berto (31-4, 24 KO) and Shawn Porter (26-2-1, 16 KO). That fight is scheduled for 12 rounds in the welterweight division as both men look to get a shot at the current WBC champion Keith Thurman. For Porter that would be a rematch of their 2016 fight that earned honorable mention status as Big Time Boxing's Fight of the Year. Neither fighter has been great as of late with Berto going 3-3 in his last six fights while Porter went 4-2 in that same stretch, however, both of them faced very good opposition in most of those six fights. Berto is an orthodox boxer-puncher with respectable if not overwhelming power. He has a nice jab and will often follow it with a powerful, but wild right hand. Another weapon for Berto is his hand speed which makes him an effective counter puncher and while he has a solid left hook it is his right hand that he does the most damage with. Porter is also an orthodox fighter but he doesn't carry nearly as much power as Berto does. He is an incredibly athletic fighter who probably could have found success in other sports if he didn't chose boxing. While his skills aren't as sharp as Berto's he has a tremendous motor. Porter is very aggressive and always coming forward and he never seems to tire or let up. He too has quick hands and works behind a solid jab and straight right hand. His left hook is also pretty good and he likes to throw uppercuts and overhand rights when he gets in the pocket. The pocket is where Porter really makes his living. He doesn't have the skills to box successfully from the outside and usually likes to get inside and rough things up. This fight will be a battle of distances. Berto has more power and quick hands and he is also the more skilled of the two. Look for him to stay on the outside and keep Porter at the end of his jab and right hand. If Berto uses his feet enough he could outbox Porter. As for Porter, he needs to do what he always does, get inside and make things ugly. He won't win a boxing match against Berto but he could win a fight which is what he needs to make this. Berto will find early success but eventually the constant pressure of Porter will pay dividends as he wins a very close unanimous decision.
Jermell Charlo vs. Charles Hatley: Saturday's co-feature will be a 12 round title fight between Jermell Charlo (28-0, 13 KO) and Charles Hatley (26-1-1, 18 KO). Charlo's WBC junior middleweight title will be on the line in this fight and it will be his first defense of that title which he won in 2016 by beating John Jackson. This fight will also be a huge step up in competition for Hatley who has mostly faced journeymen and faded veterans during his career and he hasn't fought since 2015 so he could be plenty rusty. Charlo is an orthodox fighter and he is the less powerful of the Charlo Twins. He is a skilled boxer though who fights behind a very nice jab. Behind that stiff jab Charlo also finds plenty of success with his right hand and left hook. He also does a good job of mixing up his attack from the head to the body and can even win rounds without throwing much more than his jab. Hatley is also an orthodox fighter who will be fighting for his first major title. He also will switch to southpaw for long stretches of fights though so he could mix it up and give Charlo different looks. Hatley's jab is probably better as a southpaw but it isn't a bad punch from the orthodox stance. From his usual orthodox stance he throws a chopping right hand along with a wild left hook and he does tend to get wild at times. Defensively Hately isn't exactly hard to hit and he doesn't seem to take punches very well and he has been knocked out in the first round before and dropped multiple times. Charlo certainly isn't a big puncher but he is very accurate so if he can time Hatley he could catch him on the chin and drop him. This fight should be all Charlo. Not only is Hatley usually wild but he hasn't fought since 2015 which means he should also be rusty. Expect Charlo to build a big lead on the cards before stopping Hatley in the ninth round.
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