Shawn Porter has begun the march towards his self-promised goal of becoming a three-time welterweight titlist.

The first step came in the form of a lopsided 12-round win over Hamburg, Germany’s Sebastian Formella atop a Fox primetime telecast Saturday evening from Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Judges Dr. Lou Moret, Pat Russell and Zachary Young all scored the contest 120-108 in favor of Porter, who ended an 11-month ring break by landing as the mandatory challenger to the WBC and IBF welterweight titles.

The bout was a far different look from Porter, whose last fight was his Fight of the Year-level war with Errol Spence last September at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Their welterweight title unification bout took place in front of nearly 17,000 in attendance and selling more than 300,000 Pay-Per-View buys, though resulting in the end of Porter’s second title reign. 

Saturday’s bout came on acrowdless studio lot, though both boxers focused far more on each other than the lack of external ambiance. There was little to choose from in a moderately paced opening round. Porter was at his best when leading with a heavy jab, catchingFormella clean midway through the frame.Formella—making his U.S.debut—picked off a combination from Porter, responding with a right hand for his best punch of the three-minute session.

Porter was instructed by his father and head trainer Kenny Porter to take the fight to Formella, which he did throughout round two. Formella did his best to stand his ground, catching right hand shots upstairs for his trouble as he lacked the return fire to prompt the former two-time titlist to break stride.

Formella attempted to work his jab in round three, though mostly while fighting in reverse. Porter effectively cut off the ring, using his own jab to set up a long right hand. Formella had mild success in the round, landing with a left hook at different points in the round. Porter was more effective with his own hook, cleaning up with the shot after landing classic one-two combinations.

Porter dialed up the heat in round four, mixing in a compact right uppercut into his repertoire. Formella looked to keep his distance, doing his best to force Porter to work his way inside. The best moments enjoyed by Formella were when he was able to land his jab, though even that came in counterpunching mode as Porter was comfortable dictating the pace.

As the rounds piled up in the opposite direction, Formella took the lead at the start of round five. It didn’t take, as Porter landed a right hand and left hook to drive Formella into the ropes. Porter dialed up the heat in the second half of the frame, connecting with left hooks among several rapid-fire combinations.

Porter dominated round six, digging to the body of Formella whose will was there but confidence continuing to dwindle. Porter moved his unbeaten foe around the ring, trapping him on the ropes where he was able to drive his left hook downstairs. It added up to the most lopsided round of the fight to that point from a statistical standpoint, outlanding Formella 37-12 in the frame.

The start of the second half carried the same trend, with Porter shooting his jab and coming back with left hooks to the body. Formella enjoyed his best sequence of the fight, when Porter walked into a left hook and was forced to absorb a follow-up right hand. Porter closed the frame with a series of jabs, hurting Formella with a left hook just before the bell.

As the rounds wore on, Formella could offer little more than to remain upright and last the distance. Porter made that proposition as uncomfortable as possible, continuing to dominate in every category. An uppercut by Porter set up a five-punch combination in round ten, including a left hook and right hand to the body. Formella did his best to fight back, connecting with a counter left hook but with minimal effect.

The “championship” rounds of their two-sanctioning body title eliminator saw the heart and durability of Formella on full display. Porter picked his spots, sensing that a stoppage wasn’t going to come and instead settling for a career-best in punches landed as he connected on 304-785 (39%) according to Compubox statistics.

Formella was just 148-of-586 (25%) in suffering his first defeat. The charismatic welterweight heads back to Germany with his record now at 22-1 (10KOs), though still in possession of the IBO crown as the prestigious crown was not at stake.

Porter advances to 31-3-1 (17KOs) with the win, his first since barely outpointing Yordenis Ugas in a mandatory title defense last March.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox