In what was expected to be a candidate for “Fight of the Year,” Errol Spence Jr. on Saturday made it look astonishingly easy against Mikey Garcia at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Spence (25-0, 21 KOs) used a superb jab early to keep his aggressive counterpart at bay, and once he got his straight left going, the situation became hopeless for Garcia. Spence peppered his opponent from all angles, moving backward and forward, and it seemed as though he could not miss with his left hand. Whether it was a lead or a counter, “The Truth” drove his left fist into the Californian round and after round.
Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs) never stopped trying to turn the tide against the Texan, but Spence was virtually perfect for 12 rounds. Spence turned up the heat in the latter stages of the welterweight contest and battered Garcia badly in the ninth round, with one judge scoring it 10-8. However, Spence was unable to finish off Garcia and had to settle for a lopsided unanimous decision, winning via tallies of 120-108, 120-108 and 120-107. With that, he retained his IBF 147-pound title.
After the fight, Spence called out eight-division world champion and current WBA welterweight titlist Manny Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs), who accepted his challenge. Neither a date nor a location has been set.
In other results from the Premier Boxing Champions “Spence vs. Garcia” card, David Benavidez defeated J’Leon Love by technical knockout 1:14 into the second round; Luis Nery toppled McJoe Arroy via corner-stoppage TKO 10 seconds into the fifth round; and Chris Arreola bested Jean Pierre Augustin by TKO 2:30 into the third round.