Shawn Porter was built for this.
He knew it was a calling for him and that he would be great at it.
It was something many aspire to be, but only a select few get the chance to actually do, much less succeed at.
So he prepared.
He first got the itch at an early age, putting in the work while kids were focusing on other activities that children partake in. His hard work, preparation and comfort in the spotlight separated him from others looking to enter the field. That made his indoctrination and transition to the industry seamless.
Even better, he loved it.
So when he finally got the call, he donned his suit, selected his tie and took the stage to make his debut in the field that starts with a “B”.
You assume that’s boxing since it’s Shawn Porter.
But no.
The “B” stands for broadcasting, and he’s just as serious about being in front of the camera as he is about being in the ring.
And, even more impressively, he’s just as good too.
Shawn Porter, Broadcasting Boxer
“I was 9 years old, 10 tops, when I did my very first interview,” Porter told me during our interview. “I remember being really excited and I just remember answering every question right.”
That experience crafted a career path for Porter at an early age, one that propelled him into his current role as a boxing analyst for FOX Sports.
“I don’t care if it’s radio. I don’t care if it’s TV. That’s what I’m going to do someday,” exclaimed Porter as he relayed his thoughts as a young teen.
Shawn Porter was a great athlete. He was even an All-Conference high school running back in Akron, Ohio. Yet he recognized early on where his future would reside and, shockingly, it wasn’t in the ring.
“I had the goal to be on TV and radio much sooner than I did for being a professional boxer,” admitted Porter.
That’s from someone with a great boxing resume, one that includes being a two-time world champion and a record of 31-4-1.
Yet when you speak with Porter, you understand.
He’s friendly, personable, knowledgeable and professional. He will give his honest, unbiased opinion on opponents as a broadcaster, and also stop and interact humbly and sincerely with fans at Barclays Center in Brooklyn; something I’ve seen him do numerous times.
That’s not acting or playing a role.
It’s his persona and upbringing thanks to his close relationship with his father, Kenny Porter.
While Shawn was tearing up the gridiron in Ohio, his father knew that he needed more than football. He needed to learn how to become a man.
So he brought Shawn to Las Vegas and began to train him as both a boxer and a man.
And just like he did while watching athletes during interviews and repeating their actions, Shawn absorbed the mannerisms and actions of his father.
When you add those qualities to his athleticism, that creates a winning formula that people want to be around and sample. That’s exactly what happened when FOX Sports was looking for someone to host their PBC boxing broadcasts.
“‘Who can we get that’s active, who knows how to speak well and has a good look, good voice, so on and so forth,'” said Porter of FOX Sports. “And I was the number one guy.”
But being selected and being good aren’t necessarily bedfellows, so Shawn knew he had put in the same type of work and preparation into broadcasting that he did in the ring.
“I was just determined to make both work because I couldn’t leave boxing yet. I still needed everything that I was doing in boxing,” said Porter. “But I couldn’t afford to let this opportunity get away. This was something that I had talked about and wanted for so long.”
He also recognized the challenge of his duality in the sport.
“There were definitely moments where it was doing a lot more commentary and TV than there was training, and it was ‘ok, when do we leave this to get back into training and boxing?'”
At that moment of question and imbalance, in stepped his guiding force, Kenny Porter.
“Hey, you don’t have to leave it. You just have to make sure you stay on top of this so that you can continue to do the commentary and stuff like that,” his father told him.
That gave Shawn the clarity and direction he needed to navigate the course between the two B’s- boxing and broadcasting.
So he plotted out his next few fights, which included title fights against Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford. That allowed him to train, and get back in the ring in two major events while still continuing his duties as a boxing analyst.
And in his corner was the man who’s always been there- his father.
Father-Son
After winning the WBC Welterweight title by unanimous decision over Danny Garcia in 2018, Kenny Porter prepared him for a tough fight against Yordenis Ugas.
He won that one and then faced Spence Jr. He lost but that fight was, as per his FOX Sports bio, voted “Fight Of The Year in 2019 by several boxing media members.”
Shawn’s final fight of his career was against Terence Crawford. It was a heavily debated contest; not by the judges, but by boxing fans who judge.
They felt Kenny stopped the fight too soon after he was knocked down twice in the tenth.
But in their analysis, they fail to recognize the father-son bond of the Porters. The former saw something he didn’t like, and that’s when Kenny Porter the father stepped in to protect Shawn Porter the son.
That bond, trust, and support continue outside of the ring in broadcasting and in Shawn’s latest venture.
Through his platform amateurboxingchampions.com, fans can follow aspiring amateur boxers, both men and women, before they become champions.
It’s something both men are passionate about, which connects directly to their personal values of giving back and uplifting.
Kenny Porter signs young men, some of whom are brothers, to help train and teach them to become better fighters, brothers and men.
Shawn helps them outside of the ring, continuing the father-son bond they have always retained.
“I have a spirit to help,” Shawn told me, something evidenced by the actions of both Porter men.
The Porter Way
Family is everything to the Porters, and they want to instill that into the young fighters that they train.
It’s something they bring to every venture they partake in and invest their time and effort into. That includes boxing, promotions, and Shawn’s podcast “The Porter Way”, which is another avenue where Shawn’s broadcast talents are manifested.
The name comes from boxing promoter Richard Schaefer, who innocently coined the term while discussing the way that the Porters go about their business.
“It pretty much sums up the way my dad and I are,” Shawn said. “Our professionalism, our ability to communicate, our ability to enhance the people around us. Motivating, inspiring, teaching, discipline, encouragement. Everything those simple words that we use daily sums up what ‘The Porter Way’ is.”
Shawn Porter is more than boxing, yet is all about boxing.
It’s a sport that has crafted him into the man and personality that he is. And through the love, support, and discipline of his father, he’s accomplished some of the goals he identified at the age of 9.
And that’s what the Porter Way is about.
