Spence Fell-Off? How? His Last Dub Was Shawn Porter
By Eddie Sanchez
This past weekend was equally exciting and fulfilling because the return of Errol Spence Jr. had met the hopeful expectations within the boxing industry.
Just over fourteen months ago Errol Spence Jr. outlasted and outworked Shawn Porter on his way to a unanimous decision victory. His star was shining bright and the anticipation for a potential Spence-Crawford match seemed to be at an all time high.
Less than two weeks later however, Errol Spence Jr. found himself laying face-first on a Dallas freeway, as he was ejected from his speeding Ferrari 488 Spider. His DWI-induced crash left the boxing industry shaken and worried that a potential all-time great had just seen his best-days disappear.
Fortunately, Errol Spence Jr. did not break any bones. He only suffered lacerations to his face, broken teeth, and bruising to his body. He was able to fully recover and represented this fact in front of the 16,000 fans and millions across the world, on PPV, against the always-tough Danny Garcia.
After a year of preparation for his return, Errol Spence Jr. showed that he is still a bad man. Although there were legitimate concerns about his health, both physical and mental, he was still listed as a -500 favorite pre-fight.
My expectations were that Danny Garcia was going to fight aggressively from the jump and pressure Errol Spence Jr. to test his chin and body. Although he has typically been a counter puncher, my feeling was that he would assert himself to not let Spence shake his ring-rust and would work to set the tone of the fight.
These hopeful expectations were not met and Danny Garcia was content countering Spence Jr. for the entirety of the fight, only having brief moments for uncharacteristic pressure, where he did find some success. This fact was clearly represented within the CompuBox stats.
Danny Garcia only landed 3.9% of his jabs, which tells you that Errol Spence’s ring generalship was on full display. He kept Danny Garcia tamed with his jab and controlled the pacing of the fight.
Although the two rivals landed about the same number of power punches, Errol Spence Jr. had the clear lead with body punches landed, which represents that his shots were generally the harder ones felt, because Danny was getting broken down throughout the night.
Although this was not a perfect night, Errol Spence Jr. displayed his dominance and left fans, and the entire boxing community, content with the feeling that he is back on track with his career. His competitiveness was on display post-fight as he graded his night’s work with a B on the classic grad-school scale.
Although he may have been tough on himself, his actions expressed gratitude and joy.
Now that we have his return out of the way, the logical question on everyone’s mind is what’s next?
The hope within the entire boxing community is that he finally faces Terrence Crawford, his contemporary under Bob Arum’s Top Rank banner. However, most believe that this fight will not happen until Crawford’s contract with Top Rank expires during the fourth quarter of 2021.
The great Teddy Atlas shares similar feelings.
“Those promoters are going to stay away from each other and not let them make that fight, even though that’s the fight the public wants. So it’s really going to be up to, ‘Does Crawford walk from Top Rank when his contract is up in 2021.’ I think he will walk, and I think that fight will be made.”
“It’ll be a mega-fight for the best welterweight in the world. It’ll be back like in the 80s when you had Sugar Ray Leonard fighting Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran. It’s that kind of intriguing match-up,” said Atlas.
Teddy Atlas is 100% correct in his assessment on the magnitude of this matchup. The fans have been casualties of Bob Arum and Al Haymon’s unwillingness to work with each other to give the people what they want. Fortunately, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, assuming Terrence Crawford is willing to jump ship and join the rest of the elite Welterweights under the PBC banner.
Given that the goal posts of hope for this fight have moved about nine months down the line, we must examine the weight class further to see what Spence’s next fight will actually be.
If Keith Thurman got his way, he would be the next opponent. Unfortunately for him, he is coming off of a loss to Manny Pacquiao, which was the cherry-on-top of three years filled with lackluster performances stemming from injuries. Additionally, Errol Spence Jr. has held the position that he will not do the man any favors in offering him a title-shot considering that keith Thurman showed little-to-no willingness to give Spence an opportunity a few years prior.
The best hope for boxing fans is Manny Pacquiao stepping up to the plate. This fight could potentially be very dangerous for the soon-to-be 42 year old, but he has also proven that he is still a top three Welterweight that is currently fighting.
Stylistically, this fight would be interesting as both fighters are left handed. Neither would have any advantages from their natural fighting stance. Manny would be far older, but still offers legitimate activity to challenge the youthful champion. According to Kevin Lole of Yahoo Sports, Manny and his team are interested in the challenge.
One additional nugget that would make this interesting is where Maywether currently stands within the industry. Floyd Maywether recently announced a February 21st exhibition bout with YouTuber Logan Paul.
If Manny Pacquiao fights Errol Spence Jr. in 2021, this would be a great accomplishment towards his legacy considering his rival has moved on to exhibition matches that most hardcord fans label a farce, while he would still be fighting the absolute best in the sport within his respective weight class.
I believe this historical notion will be enough for Manny and his team to truly consider the fight. While Manny Pacquiao has achieved more than any other fighter in history by winning titles in eight classes, he is still lower than his rival on most recognized All-time P4P lists. This additional accomplishment, even in a loss, would only enhance his legend within the sport.
The benefits are not only Manny Pacquiao’s to gain. He would be by far the most accomplished opponent on Errol Spence’s resume, win-lose-or-draw.
If Spence is to win this fight, his marketing power and stance with casual fans would increase tremendously, which is extremely important to his team and Al Haymon. A victory over Manny Pacquiao would set-up a Spence-Crawford match perfectly as it would ultimately solidify himself as the A-side in the match and his global exposure could leverage more PPV buys.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we must note that this matchup is no guarantee. Manny Pacquiao is about to be 42 years old and while he may want this fight in his heart, there are other factors, such as his family, that can ultimately talk him out of it. However, if he follows through and we get the Manny Pacquiao versus Errol Spence Jr. PPV in the first half of 2021, boxing fans will be in for a historical treat.
For now, we should just be appreciative that Errol Spence Jr. has demonstrated that his accident and injury concerns are in his rearview mirror. As fans, we can speculate on the future of his career with a clear conscience and be excited for what remains ahead.
