Spence victorious in unification bout
The Staples Center in Los Angeles was the stage for the welterweight showdown as Errol Spence Jr. came out on top of Shawn Porter by split decision Saturday night.
The main event got off to a late start as they had to repair the ropes after the victory of the co-main event in which David Benavidez recaptured the WBC Super Middleweight title from Anthony Dirrell, which pushed it back ten minutes.
Once the bell rang, this fight was as good as advertised for the cost of a pay-per-view.
The fight which had Spence coming in a considerable favorite, while would play that way, in the end, was not the case early on as a game Porter bought his style and aggression to the forefront in the early rounds of the fight.
The action got turned up a notch in the fourth round with both men exchanging shots, and from there a great back and forth contest began.
OHHH!!! @ShowtimeShawnP lands a huge left hand as the action is picking up in Round 4!
BUY #SpencePorter NOW ➡️ https://t.co/5Hmd7crh2X pic.twitter.com/JPQmPSkaUv
— FOX Sports: PBC (@PBConFOX) September 29, 2019
What made this contest so good was that the action being put on by Porter to Spence was relentless as that was his gameplan the entire fight. It was one of the keys mentioned by Antonie Williams of GOAT Promotions in our latest podcast previewing the battle.
So much in fact that Compubox numbers totaled up that Spence and Porter landed within four punches of each other in 7 of the 12 rounds of the fight. The one however, that may have sealed it for Spence was a left hook that caught Porter mid-swing in the 11th round that sent him down.
After 12 rounds of great action in this fight, the final scorecards had it 116-111 twice for Spence and 115-112 for Porter, giving Spence the victory by split decision. With the win, he now holds the WBC and IBF welterweight belts.
The big surprise was after the fight in the ring, Fox Sports’ Heidi Androl announced to the winner Spence in the post-fight interview that he would be facing Danny Garcia next. Garcia who was on hand for the broadcast stated he was looking forward at the opportunity during the post-fight interview.
While many will moan at the selection of Spence-Garcia as it isn’t the usual conversation of Crawford or even Manny Pacquiao, it is an exciting matchup when it comes locked in for 2020.
Tonight, however, this fight has been elevated to everyone’s “Fight of the Year” conversation, and it would be hard to see how this one wouldn’t be.
"The Truth" don't lie and @errolspencejr becomes the unified WBC and IBF champion by winning by SD in a historic fight on #PBConFoxPPV. #SpencePorter pic.twitter.com/5wD5DPAGGz
— PBC (@premierboxing) September 29, 2019
Marquis Johns is a unknown humorist and avid boxing fan. His love for the sweet science goes back to when matches were 15 rounds and has been covering fights since closed-circuit pay-per-views. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth is not only a quote by Mike Tyson, it's also a pretty good reminder to keep your guard up.
