LOS ANGELES — Welterweight world titleholders Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter both flexed, showed off their belts and predicted an unforgettable fight as they made weight Friday before a cheering crowd inside the Wilshire Grand Ballroom at the Intercontinental Hotel.
It was the final time they will see each other before meeting in the center of the ring to unify their world titles in one of the year’s biggest fights on Saturday (Fox PPV, 9 p.m. ET) at Staples Center. They were both right on the division limit of 147 pounds and looked ripped and ready to fight.
“Everything is clicking on all cylinders. I feel fantastic,” said Porter (30-2-1, 17 KOs), the underdog, who will be making his second title defense. “Errol knows what it is. He’s going to come ready to fight, and I’m going to come ready to fight. The fans are in for a treat. This is the best of the best about to go in there and do it.”
Spence (25-0, 21 KOs), 29, a southpaw from DeSoto, Texas, who will be making his fourth title defense, continued to predict he will knock out Porter (30-2-1, 17 KOs), 31, of Las Vegas, who has never been close to being stopped.
“Shawn is a champion just like me, and now we’re going to get it on. I’ve been wanting that WBC belt for a long time and now he’s going to hand it over to me on Saturday night,” Spence said. “I’m going to take it off him. I’m gonna do what I’ve been doing — winning and looking good. I know he’s a tough fighter who comes to fight. I’m going to be the first person to stop Shawn Porter.”
Super middleweight world titlist Anthony Dirrell was 167.6 pounds for the first defense of his 168-pound belt against mandatory challenger and former titleholder David Benavidez, who also was 167.6 pounds. After they made weight, Dirrell (33-1-1, 24 KOs), of Flint, Michigan, and Benavidez (21-0, 18 KOs), of Phoenix, briefly spoke to each other on the stage.
“We both said we’re ready,” Benavidez said. “We said, ‘Let’s give the fans the fight they want to see, let’s give them a war, let’s steal the show.'”
The 22-year-old Benavidez, the favorite against Dirrell, 34, has been predicting a knockout victory, but Dirrell said that was not going to happen.
“I’m the teacher. I got to give lessons,” he said of facing a youthful foe. “I’m confident. I’m just ready to fight. It’s gonna be a war.”
Junior welterweights Mario Barrios (24-0, 16 KOs), 24, of San Antonio, was on the division limit of 140 pounds and Batyr Akhmedov (7-0, 6 KOs) was 139.4 for their vacant secondary junior welterweight title fight. Akhmedov, 28, who was born in Uzbekistan, lives in Russia and represented Turkey in the 2016 Olympics, will be the first 2016 Olympian to fight for a world title.
Former world title challengers Josesito Lopez (36-8, 19 KOs) and John Molina Jr. (30-8, 24 KOs), both looking for a victory to vault them back into a title bout, also both made weight for their welterweight fight. Lopez, 35, of Riverside, California, was 146.6 pounds and Molina, 38, of Covina, California, was 146.2 for the 147-pound bout that will open the pay-per-view broadcast.
There are also two bouts on the Fox Sports 1 preliminary bout telecast and all four fighters were on weight. Former two-division world titlist Robert Guerrero (35-6-1, 20 KOs), 36, a southpaw from Gilroy, California, was 146.8 pounds and Jerry Thomas (14-1-1, 8 KOs), 28, of St. Mary’s, Kansas, was 146.6 for their welterweight fight; junior middleweight prospect Joey Spencer (8-0, 6 KOs), 19, of Union City, California, was 155.8 pounds and Travis Gambardella (5-0-2, 2 KOs), 29, of Revere, Massachusetts, was 155 for a fight contracted at 156 pounds (two over the junior middleweight limit).
Also on Friday, the California State Athletic Commission released the official purses for the card. Spence and Porter have commission contracts that call for $2 million apiece, although both will make millions more in guaranteed money. Dirrell and Benavidez are each making $1 million apiece. Barrios is getting $125,000, Akhmedov $50,000, Molina and Lopez are getting $125,000 apiece, Guerrero $20,000, Thomas $17,500, Spencer $4,000 and Gambardella $5,000.