As the many questions that came up against Errol Spence Jr. as he headed into his clash against Danny Garcia on Saturday night. Questions like if he would be able to take the hard shots from Garcia?
At AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Spence, 30, answered all the questions and won with unanimous decision, as two judges scored 116-112 for Spence with the other at 117-111 to retain his IBF and WBC welterweight belts.
For the 16,000 or so who were in socially distanced attendance at the stadium, Spence was the crowd’s favorite. He was consistent and I should say just a bit better than his opponent.
Spence right after the opening bell, behaved confidently by asserting a jab to the head and body show Garcia he didn’t have any ill effects from the accident 14 months ago.
And by the fourth round, Spence was well in control, busting Garcia up not only with the jab, but battering him with power shots as well.
Garcia, 32, did put in a good effort, stayed competitive, gaining momentum here and there and trying to win, but just came up short in a top-tier fight at 147. which has sort of been the story with the Philadelphia native in his biggest fights at welterweight.
“I think I looked pretty good. There was a little ring rust, I got a little tired, but I shook off the cobwebs and I’ll be ready to fight again in the summertime,” Spence said. “I didn’t want no tune-up fight, I wanted to fight a great champion like Danny Garcia, someone whose name is known and would give me a fight. And he definitely gave me a fight. I wanted to prove I’m the best 147-pound fighter in the world.”
“Danny Garcia pushed me to the limit,” Spence added. “I’ve been watching him fight since I was an amateur. I knew he was a great champion. This was a comeback fight for me, but I’ll definitely be 120 percent for my next fight.”
Spence made it clear he wasn’t at his absolute best here, he said, “I made a couple mistakes, I played around a little bit and put my hands down, and I was lazy sometimes on my jab. My coach told me, ‘Yo, Danny Garcia is known for knocking people out when they get lazy, pick your hands back up,’ so that’s what I did.”
Punch Stats
| PUNCHES | SPENCE | GARCIA |
|---|---|---|
| Total landed | 187 | 117 |
| Total thrown | 707 | 700 |
| Percent | 26% | 17% |
| Jabs landed | 84 | 14 |
| Jabs thrown | 419 | 362 |
| Percent | 20% | 4% |
| Power landed | 103 | 103 |
| Power thrown | 288 | 338 |
| Percent | 36% | 31% |
| — Courtesy of CompuBox |
Spence’s return bout is wonderful, he said he wanted to show he is still the same fighter who dominated opponents before his car accident. While he felt rusty and began to tire toward the end of the night, Spence accomplished his aim to win over Garcia.
“I’m here for a reason,” Spence said. “I basically proved that I’m back and I’m here to stay and I’m the unified champion of the world” he said.
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