Before this past Saturday night, Errol Spence was unbeknown to me. I had heard the name, but I had never seen him fight. So I decided to look up some of his highlights and upon briefly looking at his fights, I figured he was just another upcoming fighter facing weak opposition and building a name for himself.
Intrigued of who he was going to fight next in Chris Algieri, I had to watch “Round 0” (the psychological round). Algieri is a well-rounded boxer with a heart of a lion and a great test for anyone. Especially an upcoming fighter like Errol Spence.
What I noticed in their final face off—Round 0 was what seemed to be at the time, Spence losing his composure very briefly by flexing his pectoral muscles and then choosing to look away first (not that these factors always play a major role in winning the fight, but in most cases they are signs of being mentally defeated, for boxing is thirty percent physical and seventy percent mental).
Then, when Spence imposingly brushed Algieri’s arm away from him, gave me a reason to think it was a sign of false confidence.
My immediate thought was Algieri was going to finish the fight with his arm raised. I was sold by Algieri’s calm composure and professionalism. I didn’t assume it was going to be an easy fight for Algieri, but a tough fight nonetheless that he would go on winning with his ring generalship and boxing skill; teaching the young upcoming fighter Errol Spence a lesson.— But boy was I wrong.
Upon watching the first few moments of the opening round of the fight, I immediately knew Algieri was in for a surprise. Spence came out like an anxious, angry bull looking to demolish his matador.
His aggressive, come-forward style of fighting wasn’t the only advantage he had going for him. His accuracy, movement, patience and his timing were all the factors that put Algieri down three times before finally being knocked out in the fourth round.
To Algieri’s credit, he tried his best, but sometimes your best is just simply not enough—especially against a great and young powerful southpaw talent like Spence.
Spence had only one mission to accomplish that night, which was to beat Algieri in spectacular fashion, and he accomplished just that.
Spence had a test that night and he passed it with flying colors. Spence captured the imagination of a lot of boxing fans last Saturday night and imposed a great threat to the title holders in his division.
So what’s next for Spence? Well after a great performance like that, it would seem that the sky is the limit.
Spence went on record stating he wants to fight the IBF Welterweight champion, Kell Brook. In what could amount to a great fight, both of their styles are perfect for one another. Spence is the come-forward aggressive fighter, while Brook is the shoulder roll defensive stylist.
Boxing fans have been waiting for Brook to defend his IBF title against a well rounded opponent that actually has a chance and poses a threat since he last beat Shawn Porter.
Brook has been wanting a big fight for a while because he claims to be the best in his division, a victory over Spence would go a long way in proving that.
If a fight between Brook isn’t made right away, Spence could go after Ruslan Provodnikov–assuming the “Siberian Rocky” is successful against John Molina.
Spence would have an opportunity to show how good his chin is and how he performs against stalking fighters.
Spence’s fighting style is very similar to Porter’s style, only it’s more accurate, compact and just as powerful. A showdown between both men further down the line would also be a good matchup and likely produce a night of fireworks and entertainment.
Furthermore, after seeing Spence’s last performance I don’t doubt for a second that he will be the dominating talent in his weight division for a long time to come. His chin remains to be tested, but until it is, we have a solid contender to keep a look out for.
All photos by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
