Spence Jr. and Porter participated in a frenetic encounter from start to finish, with one CBS analyst declaring it a "fight of the year candidate".[3] Porter started fast, sometimes overwhelming Spence Jr. in the early rounds. Spence Jr., however, began attacking Porter's body and was able to slowly gain a slight edge on the judges' scorecards. With the fight still close, Spence Jr. landed a short left hook to Porter's chin in round eleven, causing Porter's glove to touch the canvas and scoring the only knockdown of the fight. Porter remained on his feet and received an eight-count by referee Jack Reiss before resuming the contest, finishing the round, and engaging in an action-packed twelfth and final round.
In the end, Spence Jr. was given a split decision win on the official scorecards, with Filipino judge Rey Danseco and Steve Weisfeld had it 116–111 for him and Larry Hazzard Jr tallied 115–112 for Porter. Spence Jr. won Porter's WBC title and successfully defended his IBF title for the fourth time.
Felix Trinidad vs. Oscar De La Hoya, another Welterweight unification fight pitting an IBF champion (Trinidad) against a WBC one (De La Hoya), a bit over 20 years to this fight's date.