By Keith Idec

Given a choice, Shawn Porter would want to avenge his loss to Keith Thurman more than his defeat to Kell Brook.

If Porter can beat Andre Berto on April 22 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, he’ll move closer toward securing that rematch with Thurman. The Porter-Berto bout, which Showtime will televise, is a WBC elimination match that’ll determine the mandatory challenger for the 147-pound championship Thurman won from Danny Garcia in their title unification fight March 4 at Barclays Center.

“Thurman, I think he’s the better fighter [over Brook],” Porter said Wednesday during a conference call. “Being able to beat him would be something on my resume and my legacy that will be remembered for a very long time. He’s a very good fighter. He’s a very good defender of his belt, slash belts, and I’m looking forward to fighting him, getting a rematch.”

Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC) out-pointed Porter unanimously in a 12-rounder June 25 at Barclays Center. Their highly competitive contest was generally regarded as one of the best action fights of 2016 and drew a peak audience of nearly four million viewers on CBS.

England’s Brook beat Porter (26-2-1, 16 KOs) by majority decision to win the IBF welterweight title 2½ years ago at StubHub Center in Carson, California. Even though Brook beat him first, it would mean more to the 29-year-old Porter to beat Thurman in a rematch because he thinks Thurman is more skilled and accomplished than Brook.

“I just think overall – boxing ability, ring IQ, you know, speed, quickness, power, all of it,” Porter said. “I just feel – my personal opinion, and it could be a biased opinion – but I do feel like Keith Thurman is the better boxer slash fighter than Kell Brook.”

The 30-year-old Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) has lost only to middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs), who stopped Brook in the fifth round of their September 10 bout at O2 Arena in London. Another daunting assignment awaits Brook, though, as he is preparing to make a mandatory title defense against Errol Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs) on May 27 in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England (Showtime).

The 28-year-old Thurman seemingly has his sights set on other challenges, but Porter hopes to beat Berto and fight Thurman again in his next bout.

“I’m hoping so,” Porter said. “I know that he has two different belts [WBA and WBC] and he’ll have two different mandatories. So I understand all that. But I’m looking forward to getting back in the ring with Keith Thurman in a rematch as soon as we can, after this fight with Andre Berto.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.