By Edward Chaykovsky

WBA welterweight champion Keith 'One Time' Thurman (26-0, 22KOs) is looking to make a statement when he defends his title against former IBF champion Shawn Porter (26-1-1, 16KOs) on March 12th at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

Porter's only career loss came at hands of current IBF champion Kell Brook (35-0, 24KOs). Brook won his world title with a close twelve round majority decision over Porter in August of 2014.

Since that defeat, Porter has won two in a row including a twelve round decision over Adrien Broner last June at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Thurman is very interested in facing Brook in the near future. Brook has a mandatory defense scheduled for March 26th against Kevin Bizier in Sheffield. If Brook wins, he wants a major fight in the summer.

Porter-Brook was very ugly contest with a lot of holding and accidental head clashes. Thurman is very motivated to upstage Brook's performance against Porter. He aims to score some knockdowns and preferably knock Porter out.

"In the fight world we call it a measuring stick. Brook was able to defeat Porter - is Keith Thurman able to beat Porter? If so, in what form and in what fashion? Does it go 12 rounds, is it more or less competitive than the Brook fight, do I stop Porter?," Thurman told Sky Sports/Behind The Gloves.

"I see every fight possibly going 12 rounds but, considering that maths was my favourite subject growing up, I do love what we call Keith 'One Time' Thurman's KO ratio. It's a beautiful KO ratio - 26-0 with 22 wins by knockout."

"The two most recent fights that went 12 rounds were Robert Guerrero and Bundu. Both fighters got knocked down so it's obvious that when you fight Keith Thurman the odds of being knocked down are higher than the odds of being knocked out. We plan on hurting Porter, we plan on being smart and wise, and taking advantage of the opportunities we have to land the devastating blows."