By: Stephen Hardy-Delaney
Ladies and Gentlemen, what…a…fight. Two welterweight champions went toe to toe this past Saturday to unify the WBC and IBF welterweight belts and those in attendance and those who watched around the world witnessed one of the greatest welterweight fights of all-time.
We found out that these two great fighters were the best welterweights in the world, and they proved it Saturday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The junk-yard dog from Cleveland and the undefeated knockout artist from Dallas went to war and gave us what they said they would give us and that was sheer violence.
From beginning to end these two went at it with Porter throwing caution to the wind and trying literally to decapitate Errol Spence, while Spence was going for the kill more technically, but still swinging leather. Spence, who is a southpaw, landed a huge short left hand straight to Porter’s jaw that wobbled Porter and was the only knockdown of the night and who many believe swayed the fight in Spence’s favor. Spence would go on to win a close split decision to dethrone Porter from his WBC title and unify two of the four belts in the welterweight division leaving only Manny Pacquiao (WBA) and Terrence “Bud” Crawford (WBO) as the remaining welterweight champions.
There was a lot of build-up to this fight and rightfully so with fighters of this caliber. Though Spence was favored, not a lot know that Porter had something that no other Spence opponent had had before and that was one of his former trainers in Porter’s corner and the man who was in Porter’s corner was his very own father who actually trained Errol Spence during his run at the 2012 Olympics. Shawn Porter’s father, Kenny Porter, was the head coach of the Men’s U.S. Boxing Team at the time and cornered Spence up until his loss at the Olympics. Spence has gone on to downplay Kenny Porter’s work and credits Manny Robles, the trainer of current WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO Heavyweight Champion, Andy Ruiz.
“He’s fighting Shawn, so he has to downplay everything,” Kenny told BoxingScene.com. “He can’t take himself off that plane that he was with me in Russia when I was the head coach. He can’t stop the fact that I was the guy in the corner when he lost that night. I didn’t make him lose. I also didn’t make him lose in Azerbaijan. And of course, he’s been to the Olympics and lost there too.”
Kenny Porter would also state that he even cornered Spence in a sparring match against former boxing superstar, Floyd Mayweather where Kenny Porter told BoxingScene.com, “He gave Floyd a very good, rough, hard sparring session.
Leading up to this matchup many doubted the champion from Dallas due to his fight resume with no-name contenders and his last fight being a dominant victory which saw Spence win every single round against a much smaller Mikey Garcia, who has held championships in four different weight classes, but none the less, many believed Spence was a faux champion due to no real names on his resume. But all that has been put to sleep as Spence, the former Olympian and now the WBC and IBF champion of the world is now looking for his next test.
Spence stated at the post-fight conference, “They said I never been tested before or I never been hit with a great shot before or I never been uncomfortable before. I think I showed a lot, that I’m a real dog and that I do have a lot of grit and I do have a lot of ability to take a shot and give a couple back.”
“It feels good to win. This is a lifetime dream. It shows hard work pays off,” Spence said. “Thanks, Shawn Porter, my whole team and all my Texas people for coming out. Shawn Porter is a rough and awkward fighter. I didn’t get off what I wanted to. He’s a true champion. He made it tough.”
Leading up to the fight, Spence was asked about who he would want next if he does win the fight against Porter and stated that he’s gunning for a shot at boxing legend and WBA Welterweight Champion, Manny Pacquiao. Spence would go on to state again post-fight that he wants the current Senator of the Philippines and he’ll welcome any top welterweight looking to take his thrones. “You line ‘em up and I’ll knock ‘em down,” said Spence post-fight. One of those men looking to dethrone Spence is former WBC Light Welterweight and Welterweight champion, Danny Garcia who was a commentator for Fox Sports that night and made his way into the ring to challenge Errol Spence.
So, that leaves the question, “Who’s next?”
Who will be the next challenger to attempt to turn Errol Spence’s “o” to 1?
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