Shawn Porter once beat current heavyweight contender Oleksandr Usyk in the amateur ranks.
The slick orthodox fighter has a proud history in the sport and one of his finest moments before turning professional was, in fact, beating the Ukrainian.
It’s an almost unfathomable match-up nowadays with Usyk primed to make his heavyweight debut in three weeks after becoming the undisputed king at 200lb.
Usyk recently stated how he always prepared to mix it in the blue-ribbon division but when he and Porter were both aged just 19 in 2006, they traded blows in a 75kg contest.
Porter won unanimously on points and has since re-told the tale to the bemusement of boxing punters.
“I remember him being tall and being a southpaw and I remember him being able to box really, really well,” Porter told Sky Sports in 2018.
“The one thing that still sticks out in my mind is the very last round; around the middle of the round I caught him with a really big right hand and it kind of shook him up.
“Just a little bit, but from that moment on, I kept it going, kept backing him up, a lot like you see me doing now. I did it in the fight and that got me the decision.
“He was tall, rangy, had a great jab and even back then he had very good boxing moves. He knew his range really well, he knew his distance really well which is something a lot of fighters take time to work out properly.
“He didn’t waste punches and he was really, really competitive – everything you see now. I think since we fought he has grown another three or four inches. He was relatively tall when we fought, and [he has packed on weight].
“I was a lot quicker than he was. It was really his height and range against my speed and quickness. It was back in 2006 and I just missed out on the Olympics in 2008. I thought he had too, but he made it, just didn’t do much in comparison to 2012.
“I remember when he was back and was in the 2012 Games, he was much bigger. I remembered his name and just couldn’t believe it was actually him. It was then I knew he would be a force.
“Because when you have the skills [from] a young age and at a lower weight class, once you go up to a higher weight class and still have the skills and talent you go a bit further every time, because you have something that most heavyweights or cruiserweights don’t have.
“Right now he has that experience on his side, youth on his side, as well as the skills he’s always had. And now he has speed which he didn’t have like I did back in 2006.”
Porter is a big underdog for the Spence Jr fight but ‘Showtime’ has only lost twice before in his pro career, to Kell Brook and Keith Thurman.