SPORTS SHORTS 172: WHO IS ERROL SPENCE? THE KNOCKOUT SPECIALIST (THIRD OF A SERIES)
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 17 Jul 2021
Errol Spence Jr. is a precarious southpaw who was a successful amateur fighter and refined his skills when he turned professional. He has the extraordinary blend of innate talent, technical expertise and tough work standards.
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Spence did not want to remain in his boxing training, but his father motivated him not to stop, and even moved to the graveyard shift so he would be able to bring his son to the gym during practice time. The effort paid off and he became a national amateur champion thrice, Golden Gloves winner and a 2012 London Olympian.
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Spence fought a few lesser known opponents in the early stages of his career, like most young professional boxers. But he also showed precise boxing talents, capable of striking from different directions and inflict strong blows without sacrificing his own guard.
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Spence is undoubtedly a knockout specialist, but he is not a brawler who plainly relies on his strength. He needs to normally absorb very few and gives more voluminous punches in time ensuing a knockout or stoppage.
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Errol Spence Jr. harvested KOs in most of his fights in the first two years of his career, and he got media mileage when he stopped former WBA international lightweight champion Francisco Javier Castro of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on December 13, 2014 by a fifth-round TKO.
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On April 11, 2015, Spence defeated Samuel Vargas, born in Bogota, Colombia now based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Spence upped his record to 16-0, winning by TKO in Round 4 of scheduled 10 rounder in a Premier Boxing Champions fight card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
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Spence was featured on the undercard of Shawn Porter vs. Adrien Broner on June 20, 2015 at the MGM Grand Arena. He defeated Phil Lo Greco (26-1, 14 KOs) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada via 3rd-round TKO.
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Spence's original opponent was Roberto García. But García backed out of the fight three days before the match due to weight problems. Spence landed 73 of 142 punched thrown (51%) and Lo Greco connected only 19 of 132 (14%).
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Spence fought on the undercard of Adonis Stevenson vs. Tommy Karpency WBC light heavyweight title fight against Chris van Heerden of Johannesburg, South Africa at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto on September 11, 2015. The referee stopped the fight in round 8, after van Heerden went down twice in round 7.
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On November 28 he faced Alejandro Barrera (28-2, 18 KOs) of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas. Spence defeated Barrera via 5th-round TKO in an IBF eliminator for the number 2 spot in their welterweight contender rankings. Spence was leading on the three judges scorecards, all scored 40-36.
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His next fight on April 16, 2016 was even more impressive because of how he ended it. He fought Chris Algieri, the former WBO super lightweight champion, who had a record of 21-2 at the time, whose only loses were to notable fighters Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan.
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Algieri of Huntington, New York survived 12 rounds to both fighters and lost on the scorecards. This time he didn't last the full distance. Spence utterly pummeled Algieri, ending him with a left hook for a fifth-round TKO.
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Spence showered Algieri with jabs and won every round. Algieri went down once in the fourth round and twice in the fifth round. Spence stopped him while pinned down on the ropes. The time was 0:48 of round 5 and it was the first time Algieri had been knocked out within the distance.
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A few months later, on August 21, 2016, Spence again won by stoppage via a six-round KO over Leonard Bundu of Florence, Toscana, Italy but born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, at the Ford Amphitheater in Brooklyn, New York. Spence sent Bundu to the canvas in the sixth round with a savage right hook.
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"This is another great opportunity for me to gain exposure on NBC," Spence said after stopping Bundu. "A lot of people will be watching because of the Olympics that may not have known my name before. As an Olympian, headlining a major event four years after my Olympic run is exciting."
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After the splendid triumphs, Spence obviously was on his way to become one of boxing's marquee names, and his ascendancy came just at the right time. Promoter Lou DiBella believes Spence can eventually reach the summit of his aspirations.
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"I'm not crowning him champion or a pound-for-pound fighter," DiBella told Premier Boxing Champions' official site. "But I think he [eventually] will be with his ring generalship, tremendous power, intelligence, great body work [and] great jab. [Spence] knows how good he is but allows his skills to do the talking."
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San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson and Denver Nuggets big man JaVale McGee have been named as replacements, in the USA men's basketball team for Bradley Beal and Kevin Love with the Olympics just days away.
Beal was placed into health and safety protocols earlier this week, and it was determined that he would not be able to travel with the team to Tokyo, Japan for the Olympics. His quarantine also caused Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant to be placed into health and safety protocols, and also led to the cancellation of Team USA's exhibition game against the Australian national team on Friday.
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Love has opted to be out due to a lingering right calf injury he suffered in the recent NBA season. Johnson has impressed the Olympic staff when he trained with the USA Select Team in Las Vegas together with the Tokyo-bound Olympic team, and McGee will add more strength and depth in the frontcourt.
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The NBA's playoff play-in tournament format will return for the 2021-22 season. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association agreed to extend the play-in concept next season, pending an approval of the league's board of governors in meeting on August, ESPN reported.
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The NBA aspires that the play-in tournament would keep more teams and fans interested in the regular season and reduce instances of teams tanking to try to get better draft position. The NBA and NBPA also realized the importance of the play-in in generating more revenue in future media rights deals.
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The format will give chance to 24 out of 30 NBA teams to earn a spot in at least the play-in tournament in the final two weeks of the 2020-21 regular season.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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