A Spence-Pacquiao fight in the making?
Errol Spence Jr. stays undefeated with 12-round dominance of Mikey Garcia
Errol Spence Jr. had to go the distance to defend his IBF welterweight title for the third time. Still, the outcome was never in doubt for one of the world’s best pound-for-pound boxers.
Spence unanimously outpointed previously undefeated challenger Mikey Garcia, a skilled boxer who moved up two weight classes for what he considered a legacy fight Saturday night, March 16.
“Throughout training camp, a lot of commentators thought he was too smart and I couldn’t box as well as him. I showed I can box and I can move my head if I want to,” Spence said. “The game is to be smart. It’s the sweet science. I had the size and reach advantage, so why not use it to take away the jab? It’s a weapon for me and it takes away one of his weapons.”
Spence improved to 25-0 after all three judges awarded him every round. One card was 120-107, and the other two were 120-108.
Garcia took a pounding but never went down. He spent the later rounds blocking punches instead of throwing them and was never able to find the opening for a fight-changing response.
“My brother (trainer Robert Garcia) wanted to maybe stop the fight in the later rounds. He didn’t want to let me get hit more, but I told him I was fine and I tried to go out there and pull it off,” Garcia said. “I thought I could have landed one good shot to change everything, but I wasn’t able to land it.”
It was the first time Spence had to go the distance in his last 12 fights.
Garcia, who moved up from 135 to 147 pounds in his attempt to become a five-division champion, lost for the first time in 40 pro fights.
The hard-punching Spence landed 345 of the 1,082 punches (32 percent) he threw—both of those career highs. That included 237 of 464 (51 percent) of his power punches in his second title defense at home in North Texas in nine months.
During one portion of the ninth round, Spence walked Garcia in a full circle around the ring while continually delivering blows.
“The motivation fighting in front of my hometown crowd made me feel great,” Spence said. “These people have supported me since day one and I wanted to put on a good performance for all of them.”
Garcia threw 406 total punches, and landed only 75 (18.5 percent). After landing 43 percent of his power punches his previous five fights, he was only 25 percent (54 of 218) on those against Spence. /
He has broken records here before, he’s a legend in the sport and it’d be my honor to fight him next. ERROL SPENCE JR.
on Manny Pacquiao