SUPER SPENCE
For various reasons, it’s hard to identify a rival who could defeat Spence Jnr
Terrific Texan targets Thurman after dominating Peterson
THERE is probably a way to defeat Errol Spence Jnr, but it is hard to see how anyone will do it for quite a while. There are fighters arguably as talented, but none with his skill level. If anyone does have a reasonable chance of taking Spence’s measure it would be Terence Crawford who is moving up in weight to join him in the welterweight ranks. But because they have different promotional affiliations, Spence with the PBC and Crawford with Top Rank, the mega matchup will have to wait until the public, the press, and more importantly the men themselves demand it somewhere down the line. For the time being Spence has other potential options in Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, and Keith Thurman although it is somewhat unclear how anxious they would be to box him.
After stopping Lamont Peterson at one second of the eighth round to retain his IBF welterweight title at the Barclays Center, Spence thanked his opponent for stepping up and taking the fight where others hadn’t but, in reality, Peterson had no other viable options. He had been relatively inactive, and his marketability had plunged from the time he was a two-time champion. For Peterson, a decisive loss would relegate him to gatekeeper status, and he knew it. Therefore, the Washington DC native was fighting more than just Spence, he was fighting to keep his career alive.
To call it a beat-down would be disrespectful to the effort Peterson put in. He moved forward, shook off considerable punishment and never stopped trying to win. Spence was just clearly the superior man.
They exchanged jabs in the opening round before the action picked up in the second. Peterson, 33, landed a good right, but Spence responded with a left hook that had him reeling. When Peterson scored with a two-punch combination in the third, Spence smiled, it was fight on. He
IT’S HARD TO SEE HOW ANYONE CAN DEFEAT HIM FOR A WHILE
‘EVERYONE KNOWS I’VE BEEN WAITING ON THURMAN’
drove forward punishing Peterson with thudding body blows.
Southpaw Spence, 27 and from Dallas, was making the first defence of the IBF title he had won from Kell Brook last summer, was totally dominant in the fourth. Working off the jab, he banged uppercuts to the body and head. Then 55 seconds into the fifth a left hook to the temple dropped Peterson. Spence went all out for the finish as referee Harvey Dock looked on, but Peterson courageously fought back, yet again.
Spence pounded a brave Peterson in the sixth and seventh, landing almost at will. The challenger’s mission would soon be over.
Peterson’s left eye was cut, yet he came out at the bell to start the eighth, only to be called back by his trainer and father-figure Barry Hunter who mercifully halted it.
After praising Peterson, Spence made it clear who he wanted next. “Everyone knows I’ve been waiting on Thurman. Since I was 15-0, I’ve been calling this guy out and he keeps making excuses.”
When challenger Javier Fortuna failed to make weight, his bout with IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter
Jnr was relegated to a non-title contest. Ironically this might have lessened the sting for the former belt holder from the Dominican Republic who was slightly hard done in losing a split decision to Easter that was roundly booed by the crowd. I had it 114-113 for Fortuna, the same as judge John Mckaie who was overruled by Glen Feldman 114-113, and Kevin Morgan 115-112 who had Easter from Toledo, in front.
It was a very close fight, one in which you could make an argument for either man having won, just as you could make a case either way for whether referee Ricky Gonzalez should have deducted a point from Fortuna in the second round for landing a series of rabbit punches as Easter was ducking and turning away. What is indisputable is the role that the point deduction played in the ultimate outcome, because without it the match would have been called a draw.
The advantage that each held in different rounds varied, but the pattern of the fight never did. The much taller Easter came forward behind a long jab, trying to muscle Fortuna and cause damage. Fortuna would move in and out, attack and willingly fight off of the ropes. Both would fall into frequent clinches, Gonzalez allowing them to fight out of it instead of breaking them. Easter was a little stronger, Fortuna a little quicker.
The pace was brisk, but by the end Fortuna’s punches seemed a little more eye catching than Easter’s. “He just wanted to grab and hold the whole fight” said Easter, who was just as guilty of doing so as was Fortuna. Easter continued to talk of big fights against the likes of Mikey Garcia, but despite an admirable effort on his part he made few new fans with this performance. Unbeaten Polish heavyweight Adam Kownacki from Brooklyn, always enters the ring looking in less than optimum
physical condition, but then shows an energy level that exceeds his opponents. It happened again this evening when Kownacki wore down Los Angeles’ Iago
Kiladze, stopping him at 2-08 of the sixth round of a scheduled 10.
Kiladze trained by Freddie Roach, moved around fluidly but was unable to mount an attack over the first three rounds. Falling behind forced him to start exchanging punches in the fourth which played right into Kownacki’s strength. A flurry early in the round dropped Kiladze who was being overpowered.
The boisterous Polish delegation roared their man on as he continued to apply the pressure to his fading opponent. Then, in the sixth, a barrage of blows sent Kilzade down. He seemed to topple in slow motion across the ring, landing on his back. Kilzade got up at referee Shada Murdaugh’s count of ‘eight’ and it was stopped. Staten Island light-heavyweight
Marcus Browne [inset, below] won in easy fashion, halting Montreal’s Francy
Ntetu at 2-15 of the first round of a 10. A two-punch combo dropped Ntetu who got up and then fell back into the ropes before steading himself. Brown attacked, and referee Arthur Mercante Jnr stepped in presumably to stop the fight, but instead issued a strange warning to Browne about using his head. The slight reprieve did not help Ntetu who was overwhelmed seconds later before it was stopped for real. It was surprising to see Anthony
Peterson box so early in the evening when the arena was pretty empty. Perhaps he wanted to get his match out of the way so he could spend extra time with his brother, Lamont, before the match with Spence. Or perhaps Peterson having his first fight in close to two years was more concerned with shedding ring rust than any exposure he could receive. In any event, he did perform well, winning a unanimous 10-round decision over Colombian Luis Eduardo Florez. Judges’ Tony Paolillo and Larry Hazzard Jnr had it 100-90, Carlos Ortiz 100-89. Eddie Claudio refereed. The best round of the fight was the ninth when an overhand right shook Peterson, who fired back hurting Florez to the body. Brooklyn’s Ivan
Golub was dropped in the second round of his scheduled six against Colombian veteran Fidel
Monterrosa. The knockdown spurred him on as he then proceeded to floor Monterrosa three times, breaking his will and forcing a stoppage at 2-48 of the third. Claudio refereed.
THE VERDICT Spence Jnr looks like a very special fighter indeed.