If he goes ahead and fights Danny Garcia in his November ring return as is the current plan, is Errol Spence making a big mistake? Should “The Truth,” who as we all know was quite badly hurt and shaken up in that nasty car smash of October, take a tune-up bout before going back in with elite welterweights?
Basically, we just don’t know how that N.D.E affected Spence, nor do we know if he will ever be the same ultra-confident, smooth, and near-flawless fighter ever again.
And this unknown element attached to a Spence-Garcia fight makes it pretty tough to make a pre-fight call on who wins and how. That said, top scribe Steve Kim of ESPN has gone out on a limb and made an early prediction, and Kim has written that he sees Garcia scoring a late KO over Spence.
It must be pointed out, as it has been by Kim himself in his article, that Spence today is “a bit of a mystery.”
“How does he react the first time he gets hit?” Kim asks of the Texan southpaw. “Will he ever be the same dominant boxer in the ring?” Kim also asks.
We just don’t know. But Kim, who writes how Spence “would have been a prohibitive favorite over Garcia before the accident,” has made his prediction and it might be a tough one for Spence fans to swallow.
Garcia, 36-2(21) is no doubt a fine and accomplished fighter, and of course, he is a former two-weight world champion. But Garcia to KO Spence, even a Spence who suffered broken teeth and facial lacerations in the car accident?
Garcia was a good puncher down at 140 pounds, but as a welterweight, “Swift” has scored just four stoppage wins, and unless you call a faded Paulie Malignaggi, Samuel Vargas, Brandon Rios, and Adrian Granados elite welterweights, Garcia has not KO’d a truly top fighter at 147. In his big fights at 147, Garcia won a 12 round decision over Robert Guerrero, and he was beaten by Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter. Has Garcia – who was last seen defeating Ivan Redkach in a dull affair in January – got the firepower to take out Spence?
It’s fair to say it will be quite a shock if Spence is indeed KO’d by Garcia, but of course the big intangible in this fight is, WILL Spence be the same guy he was prior to the car smash. What everyone agrees on is the fact that Spence Vs. Garcia will be one fascinating fight to watch unfold. If it actually goes ahead.
