By Jake Donovan

A welterweight fight between Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter has been months in the making. Unfortunately, the matchup will once again have to wait a little longer.

Thurman was forced to postpone his anticipated March 12 showdown with Porter after a recent car accident left him on strict medical orders to forego any strenuous activity for the next few weeks, BoxingScene.com has learned.

There were no immediate injuries sustained by Thurman other than feeling the impact when the airbags in his car deployed after being struck on the rear passenger side of his Shelby Mustang last Wednesday. The lingering effects were enough to scrap the scheduled main event at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. and, thus, the intended CBS primetime telecast.

“Keith told me the airbag hit him harder than any punch he has ever been hit by,” DiBella told BoxingScene.com earlier Monday evening. “It was not a high-speed accident, but the airbag deployed, and he got hit hard by it. He had an MRI, a CT scan and X-rays, all the tests you can imagine, and all came back negative, so – thank goodness - he will be fine.

“He really wanted this fight to happen, but the doctor told him he took a significant hit from the airbag, so he took a couple of days off from training.”

The accident was enough to cancel a planned media conference call one week ago as well as an open media workout session tentatively scheduled for this Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Florida. The hope was that the delay in such sessions would give the determined Thurman to recover from what were initially thought to be minor injuries sustained from the accident.

However, an attempt to spar over the weekend left him to realize it was worse than he thought – which is to say his doctors had it right.

“Keith sparred on Saturday. After sparring, he complained of extreme stiffness in his neck and shoulders,” DiBella noted. “The doctors told him flat out, 'No, you cannot fight on March 12.’ The medical instructions were to take a few weeks off and undergo physical therapy before returning to training, maybe 4-6 weeks if he does what they tell him.”

While the main event is officially postponed, efforts are being made to salvage the rest of the card. Original plans called for a CBS primetime doubleheader, with Abner Mares taking on Fernando Montiel in the co-feature. Two more bouts were budgeted for the card, although never formally announced as it remained uncertain whether Showtime was able to provide a lead-in telecast on its flagship station.

Showtime will now have to pick up the entire card if the show is to go on. Presumably, Mares-Montiel would move to the main event of a hoped-for tripleheader. The show would also include Gary Russell Jr. in a featherweight title defense versus Patrick Hyland, as well as a light heavyweight crossroads bout between Edwin Rodriguez and Thomas Williams Jr.

If handlers are able to piece together such an event, it will give Showtime live boxing coverage on four consecutive weekends.

On the heels of a televised Shobox quadrupleheader on Feb. 19th, Showtime returns with a loaded day and night of boxing coverage this Saturday. Kicking off the day is the most anticipated bout of the 1st quarter of 2016, as Scott Quigg and Carl Frampton collide in a super bantamweight unification bout, which will air live from England on SHO Extreme during the afternoon stateside.

The fight will replay on Saturday evening on Showtime in addition to a live doubleheader topped by Leo Santa Cruz in a featherweight title defense versus Kiko Martinez.

One week later, Showtime returns with a hybrid edition between Shobox and Showtime Championship Boxing on March 5. Headlining the card from Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Julian Williams faces Marcello Matano in a super welterweight title eliminator.

Whether or not a fourth week of coverage can be provided by the network will depend on what can be worked out between Showtime, DiBella Entertainment and Mohegan Sun.

Unfortunately for Porter (26-1-1, 16KOs) it means waiting a little longer for a fight he craved as far back as his last ring appearance. The former welterweight titlist re-emerged among as a top divisional player following a 12-round decision win over Adrien Broner last June.

The Akron, Ohio native – who now lives and trains in Las Vegas – has been stuck on the sidelines ever since, much of which had been spent waiting for the finalization of his showdown with Thurman. Early plans called for the clash to take place last December in San Antonio, which would have headlined 2015’s final edition of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC.

Instead, it was decided that the fight was better served to launch a new series –a familiar role for Thurman, who headlined the very first PBC telecast, which aired last March on NBC, as well as the first installment of PBC on ESPN last July. There were talks of it headlining the inaugural installment of PBC on Fox in primetime, but that honor instead went to Danny Garcia’s eventual 12-round welterweight title win over Robert Guerrero last month in Los Angeles.

Plans to kick off the CBS primetime series were budgeted as a one-time deal with a wait and see approach, as to determine whether or not to continue the series throughout the year.

It’s possible that the rescheduling of the fight could still help launch such a series, but would depend on when Thurman is healed up and ready to return, as well as what CBS has going on at the time. The March 12 date was prime real estate, the show would have come in following an full afternoon and early evening of college basketball conference finals and semifinals on the final weekend before the launch of its annual March Madness tournament.

Had the fight gone on as planned, Thurman would’ve helped launch a third PBC series in as many fights. Instead, he’s now on the injured list, thus extending his period of inactivity dating back to his stoppage win over Luis Collazo last July. Because of specific language in the contract, rescheduling of the fight isn’t a matter of if but when.

Unfortunately for both, it means additional time off until a clearer picture can be painted.

“The fight will happen next when he's healed and ready to go,” DiBella vowed. “I spoke to Keith, and he's bummed out.He's not going to pull out of a fight for a bump or a bruise, but after sparring Saturday, his neck and shoulders locked up and he couldn't move. He went to two doctors, and they said it was like whiplash.

“It's not a significant injury, so he is a lucky young man. It's a matter of having to take a little bit of time, and he's very much looking forward to doing this fight. He's disappointed, but he knows it could have been worse.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox