by David P. Greisman

The debut of “Premiere Boxing Champions” has come and gone, with Adrien Broner topping John Molina and Keith Thurman defeating Robert Guerrero this past weekend on NBC. The series continues with this Friday’s first show on Spike TV, which will include Shawn Porter vs. Roberto Garcia and Andre Berto vs. Josesito Lopez.

Porter says the spotlight on the ambitious “PBC” venture is adding more to his drive and is not at all to his detriment.

“I kinda feel a little extra excited,” the former welterweight titleholder said on a March 9 media conference call. I think that’s because I know what’s in front of me is a very big opportunity. I do expect to get in there and have some fun with ‘PBC,’ with Spike TV and just win and look good doing it. No extra pressure or anything like that. I think I’m ready for the limelight. They spent a lot of money on this production and want it to be fabulous. We’re going to do whatever it takes to make it fabulous for them. Whatever they want me to do, that’s what we’ll do and we’ll have fun doing it.”

Porter picked up a title at 147 pounds with a December 2013 decision win over Devon Alexander, defending it in April 2014 with a four-round destruction of Paulie Malignaggi. He dropped the belt this past August, losing a majority decision to Kell Brook.

The 27-year-old is now 24-1-1 with 15 KOs.

Garcia, 34, is 36-3 with 23 KOs and 1 no contest. He has won eight straight since dropping a decision to Antonio Margarito back in 2010. Garcia’s last appearance was a July 2014 win over Breidis Prescott.

Porter is familiar with Garcia, having worked with him in the gym before.

“He’s a brawler. He’s a tough fighter. He’s a hard-nosed competitor. We know that, and we’re prepared for that,” he said. “We can bang, but we can also box.”

And given the criticism about the lack of entertainment value in Broner’s win over Molina — largely because Molina didn’t open up with much aggression — Porter was asked about giving the fans a show this Friday.

He said that won’t be a problem.

“For me it’s easy. I just have an exciting style. I do what it takes to win. For me, it’s easy to fight and do what my corner wants me to do and for it to be exciting for fans. I think that’s mainly what separates me from most guys. I just already have an exciting style that fans are going to appreciate. For me, it’s a matter of doing what my corner wants me to do, carrying out our game plan, winning and looking great doing it.”

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