Shawn Porter was as unfamiliar with Sebastian Formella until recently as a lot of boxing fans who will tune in to watch their fight Saturday night.

In fact, the former IBF/WBC welterweight champion wasn’t aware that the unbeaten German contender existed until he was presented as a potential opponent. Porter since has studied plenty of Formella’s film in preparation for their 12-round, 147-pound IBF/WBC elimination match, which will headline FOX’s telecast Saturday night from Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

“I never heard of him before the fight was scheduled,” Porter told BoxingScene.com. “After the fight was scheduled, I have multiple connections that were able to give me film, able to tell me a little bit about the kid and everything. So, we actually know a great deal about him, even though he isn’t known over here in the United States.”

The 33-year-old Formella is undefeated (22-0, 10 KOs), but he hasn’t faced an opponent as good or as accomplished as Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs).

Formella won the IBO welterweight title when he edged previously unbeaten South African Thulani Mbenge (15-1, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder 13 months ago in Hamburg, Germany, Formella’s hometown. Formella defended that title against Nicaragua’s Roberto Arriaza (18-2, 14 KOs), whom Formella also beat by 12-round unanimous decision January 18 in Hamburg.

“I think he’s a typical tall fighter,” said Porter, who is listed one spot behind the eighth-rated Formella in the IBF’s rankings. “Tall fighters like to keep the distance and they like to use their jab, like to use the ring. I think he uses the ring a little bit more than most professional fighters. I think he’s going to try to really move and stay to the outside, and use the ropes, but also try to avoid the ropes as well. So, that’s what I’m expecting from him. I’m expecting him to move and try to keep me at distance.”

The 32-year-old Porter is set to fight for the first time since losing a split decision to Errol Spence Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs) in their 12-round welterweight title unification fight September 28 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Porter hopes defeating Formella leads to challenging the winner of the Spence-Danny Garcia bout November 21 in his following fight. The Akron, Ohio, native is a 14-1 favorite over Formella, but he recognizes that this is the opportunity of Formella’s lifetime.

“I think that when you have that kind of energy going into a fight,” Porter said of Formella, “it gets you ready to do things that you didn’t know you could do. You know, so I think that’s what we’re up against. We’re up against a kid in Formella who really does feel like this is a fight that he can win, and it could change his whole life. And for us, we’ve been here before, and we’ve been on that side of it before. So, I think we’ll be more prepared than most guys are in this situation.”

Porter-Formella is the main event of FOX’s tripleheader, which will start Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. In the co-feature, Sebastian Fundora (14-0-1, 9 KOs), of Coachella, California, and Nathaniel Gallimore (21-4-1, 17 KOs), of Evanston, Illinois, will square off in a 10-round junior middleweight match. 

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