Spence, Porter eye Pacquiao as next foe

LOS ANGELES – Unbeaten Errol Spence and rival world champion Shawn Porter fight Saturday in a welterweight boxing title  unification bout with the winner looking at a possible 2020 showdown with Manny Pacquaio.

US stars Porter, the World Boxing Council champion, and Spence, the  International Boxing Federation champion, meet at the Staples Center in Los  Angeles.

“The winner of this fight is definitely going to be the best welterweight  in the world. There’s no way around it,” Spence said. “Being a unified champion  and stamping my place in the division makes me even hungrier to win.”

The card includes another all-American title showdown between WBC super  middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell and unbeaten ex-champion David Benavidez.

The Porter-Spence winner could face an early 2020 bout against World Boxing  Association champion Pacquiao, the 40-year-old Filipino icon who stands 62-7  with two drawn and 39 knockouts and, like both US fighters, is promoted by Al  Haymon.

“It’s going to be a good fight, a close fight, but I think Spence will  win,” Pacquaio predicted.

Spence, a 29-year-old southpaw, is 25-0 with 21 knockouts as he prepares  to defend for a fourth time the crown he took from British hometown hero Kell  Brook in 2017 at Sheffield, England.

“I’m looking for the stoppage. I want to make a statement that I’m clearing  out the division,” Spence said. “I want Manny Pacquiao and all of the top names  in this division.”

Porter, 31, carries a mark of 30-2 with one drawn into his second defense  of the title he took from Danny Garcia last September by unanimous decision.

“When I beat Errol Spence, it doesn’t mean he’s going away,” Porter said.  “But I’m going to take care of him and go after Manny Pacquiao. That’s the plan.”