By Ian S Palmer
Southpaw Errol Spence Jr. of Long Island, New York will be defending his IBF World Welterweight Title for the third time this Saturday, March 16th when he faces fellow unbeaten boxer Mikey Garcia of Ventura, California in Arlington, Texas. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the USA on Fox pay per view and on ITV 4 in the UK. Spence last fought in June when he stopped Carlos Ocampo in the first round. Garcia’s last bout was in July when he beat Robert Easter by unanimous decision to add Easter’s IBF Lightweight Title to his WBC crown.
Spence won his title in May, 2017 when he stopped former champion Kell Brook in England in the 11th round. He defended it against Lamont Peterson after seven rounds in January of 2018 and then stopped Ocampo. The 29-year-old year-old champ will enter the ring with a perfect record of 24-0 along with 21 Kos. He stepped up in class for the first time when meeting Chris Algieri in April of 2016 and then by meeting Brook and Peterson after previously beating opponents such as Phil Lo Greco, Chris van Heerden, Samuel Vargas and Alejandro Barrera.
Spence has boxed 96 rounds since turning pro in 2012, but also has a lot of amateur experience as he competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. He isn’t that tall as he stands just over 5-feet-9-inches and has a 72-inch reach. He has very good speed and power and enters the fight with a highly-impressive knockout ratio of 88 per cent despite not being regarded as a one-punch knockout artist. However, he’s now won 11 straight fights by way of stoppage. Spence has a fine jab and will be trying to establish it before unleashing his power shots against Garcia.
The 31-year-old Garcia has also been a world Featherweight, Super Featherweight and Super Lightweight Champion who is moving up in weight once again. He also owns a perfect record as he’ll climb through the ring ropes with a mark of 38-0 and 30 Kos. He has a 68-inch reach and stands 5-feet-6-inches tall so gives up 3.5 inches in height and four inches in reach to Spence. Garcia was inactive for most of 2014 and 2015 due to promotional issues, but has been on a roll since returning to the ring.
Garcia also has better than average power with a current knockout ratio of 79 per cent, but four of his last six bouts have gone the distance including his last three. He’s a quick, solid boxer with no apparent weaknesses and has fought 214 rounds since turning pro back in 2006. There isn’t really a weak side to Garcia’s game as his speed, power and boxing skills have simply been too much for all of his opponents so far. He’s basically the total package and it’s too bad he missed so much time away from the sport.
Garcia has some impressive wins against quality opponents such as Easter, Sergey Lipinets, Adrien Broner, Juan Carlos Burgos, Roman Martinez, Juan Manuel Lopez, Rafael Guzman, Orlando Salido, Jonathan Barros and Mauricio Pastrana. Garcia’s still young enough to be in his prime, but may not be as well known to the average boxing fan as he should be. He’s simply one of the best out there pound for pound and is now heading up to the 147lb division for this bout after winning four world titles in different weight divisions. Like Spence, Garcia also enjoyed a fine amateur career.
Prediction…
This is a great matchup and while Spence has the edge in size, Garcia gets the nod in experience. They both have good power and solid chins, but Garcia has gone the distance against Easter, Lipinets and Broner in his last three outings so I don’t see him stopping Spence. This should be a bit of a chess match to start and it’s likely to go the distance. They are both two of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world so any outcome shouldn’t be surprising. However, I’m leaning toward Spence taking a close decision on points.
