Errol Spence Takes The Throne, Outboxes Mikey Garcia
It wasn’t what everyone expected, but it was exactly what Errol Spence needed. In the face of the prevailing thought that Spence would win simply because he was bigger or hit harder, Spence stood in the center and outboxed Mikey Garcia for 12 rounds. Of all the outcomes to the first FOX pay-per-view, this was the least likely. The popular narrative was that if it came to a boxing match, Mikey Garcia would have the advantages because he’s perhaps the most technically sound fighter in the game.
Heading into the fight Spence became known more as a wrecking machine. A fighter who batters his opponents into submission through pure will and strength. Half a day after Spence’s clinical decision win over Garcia, it seems like we should have known all along that Spence was different. As an Olympian, that has never been Spence’s M.O., but rather a side effect to his effectiveness in the ring.
Last night Spence outboxed Mikey Garcia for 12 rounds in a way so surgical, the best comparison would be calling it a win in Mikey Garcia fashion. The tables were turned and for both fighters, they walk away looking like winners. In outboxing Garcia, Spence proved that he doesn’t have to rely on his power. Should he find himself in the ring with Terence Crawford (unlikely anytime soon) or Keith Thurman (likely), these fighters don’t necessarily need to worry about being put to sleep. Instead, they need to worry about getting inside of Spence’s jab and finding a way to actually land punches.
Garcia deserves a ton of credit as well. More credit if you expected him to get knocked out. Garcia withstood the Spence onslaught and while he tried his best to adjust, Spence had the answers every step of the way.
And the biggest thing for Garcia is pretty simple. How many guys jump up 2 weight classes and perform the way he did? Brook was brutally stopped. Khan was unconscious. Rigondeaux quit. Garcia stared the boogeyman in the face and was on his feet to hear the final bell in a gutsy performance that ultimately came up short.
For Spence, the question turns to what is next? Another pay-per-view attraction against Manny Pacquiao? A legitimate unification against Keith Thurman? Or Shawn Porter? We know that the Crawford fight is on the horizon, but the history of boxing tells us that one is still a few fights away. Given the immense talent each possesses, it will be only after the dust clears and they are the last two left standing that they will face each other.
In the meantime, Spence is put in a tough position. None of the options can rival what Crawford brings to the table. Pacquiao is old, Thurman looked rusty, and Porter maybe deserved to lose to Ugas. A win over either of these would surely leave a lot of fuel for his haters to undermine him. Although until Spence and Crawford actually face each other, there will be a lot of that going on for both guys.
David Benavidez crushes J’Leon Love
Seeing Benavidez after the lengthy layoff should have been accompanied with ring rust and sluggishness. J’Leon Love wasn’t the best opponent, but a decent one to gauge where Benavidez is and how soon he can get back into the mix with the top guys at 168 pounds.
What we saw last night dispelled any notion that Benavidez maybe partied too hard or lost a step in his progression and development as one of the brightest young fighters in the sport. His beatdown of J’Leon Love was brutal at worst. Benavidez looks like a monster who is not only improving as a fighter, but gaining explosion and power. If Benavidez continues to develop on this path, the division is his for the taking.
Lindolfo Delgado makes an appearance
The expectation was that David Benavidez would follow the Nery fight, but not quite. Lindolfo Delgado got an opportunity of a lifetime for a prospect by showing up as a swing bout on a pay-per-view card. It was clear from the start that James Roach wasn’t very good and Delgado made it count. He slowly ramped up over the first round and proceeded to put a beat down on Roach. A vicious uppercut and left hook to the body kept Roach from getting up while he received a count.
Luis Nery stops McJoe Arroyo
The big takeaway is that Luis Nery has arrived stateside and he is everything advertised. The story of Luis Nery is that he is a troubled bantamweight who if he put it all together could show the world he is an elite fighter with few who compare.
His first fight in America delivered. The takeaway is simple. Luis Nery is a legitimate world level fighter who fights at a world level pace that makes his fights must watch. Period.
The big question is what can PBC put together for him?
Chris Arreola scores an early stoppage over Jean Pierre Augustin
Seeing a 38 year old Arreola facing this undefeated fighter, it looked like maybe Arreola was being set up to lend his name to a young up-and-coming fighter’s resume. That’s the nature of the sport, but this wasn’t that night. Arreola entered as a favorite and while the opening round featured trademark Arreola smiling at shots that bounced off his face, in the 3rd round Arreola flipped the switch. He stopped Augustin behind some clean combinations and the fight was over. Onto a fight with Charles Martin or something for Arreola.
Other things
Deontay Wilder had a pretty typical entertaining and odd interview. Odd in the sense that Wilder’s interviews are always odd with his rambling and impassioned speeches that border on the abstract and whimsical. The takeaway is that Wilder’s press conference on Tuesday is likely to announce a deal to fight on FOX next.
Radio Rahim made an appearance . I’m not even sure what the point was, but Rahim was good in front of the camera. He was natural and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t laugh a little at him eating the barbecue. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of these skits.
Attendance
This was the big question heading into this fight. Were they too ambitious putting two unproven commodities in one of the biggest venues in America. Cowboys Stadium can sit close to 100,000 and was configured for 50,000 for Spence vs Garcia.
FOX made a nice push to promote this fight as much as possible and in connection with the Dallas Cowboys, all of this still seemed like a major stretch for the fight to do anything more than 30,000.
Previous fights at AT&T Stadium include Pacquiao vs Clottey which brought in 58,891 fans. Pacquiao vs Margarito brought in 40,154 and the last time we saw a fight at AT&T Stadium, Canelo knocked out Liam Smith in front of 51,420.
Spence and Garcia had 47,525 people in the building. A major win for the promoters, network, and Dallas Cowboys who worked hard to get the word out. Neither Spence or Garcia have done anything close to this and given neither one has been an establish pay-per-view star like Pacquiao or Canelo, this is a major victory that should be celebrated by all boxing fans. This victory for those who put on this fight will only energize the sport and draw more interest for the next big fight.
The final question
What will the buys be? This will make or break the fight and there is no good science for predicting pay-per-view buys. Only hunches, intuition, and Dave Meltzer’s super sketchy method of measuring Google Trends and forming a baseline number based off past fights pay-per-view numbers. But that is the final question to ask.
