Errol Spence Jr: We Need To See ‘The Truth’

Errol Spence Jr: We Need To See ‘The Truth’

The majority of the 47,000 fans in attendance in Dallas on Saturday night would have gone home more than satisfied with what they had witnessed.

Their hero Errol Spence Jr dominated practically every second of his IBF welterweight title fight with Mikey Garcia. But did the fans, Spence Jr and Garcia deserve better.

In a sport where judges often can’t agree on the obvious, this was a fight in which all three of the officials on duty in Texas agreed who won every single round, a true reflection on what we witnessed.

Garcia jumped up two weight divisions to challenge the American and was considered by some as a real threat to the champion. I saw many polls and experts that strongly favoured Garcia to add a fifth world title to his collection.

It was a viewpoint I just didn’t share or understand. Personally, I just could not make a case for the upset. A lot was made about the size difference and while it obviously had a part to play, but the biggest difference between the pair was the gulf in class.

Garcia is good, but Spence Jr is something special, how special we have yet to see. The problem is, if Spence Jr continues to fight the likes of Lamont Peterson, Carlos Ocampo, Garcia and the possible next in line Manny Pacquiao, we won’t do.

Despite his impressive resume, Garcia wasn’t in the same league, and really should have been pulled out long before the final bell. Dare to be great, but that wasn’t to be in Dallas and I wonder what this one-sided beating has taken out of him.

Garcia bravely wouldn’t quit, but the decision should have been taken out of his hands.

As good as Spence Jr was, and he was very good, I got the impression he was in cruise control, he had a few more gears to use if the need was there, which it wasn’t.

Pacquiao was visible at ringside, and he was brought into the ring for a reason. The Filipino legend said “why not” but there are a multitude of reasons why he shouldn’t.

Undoubtedly Pacquiao will be next, and it might turn out to be an uncomfortable watch. Pacquiao ended the career of Oscar De La Hoya, and now own his career might end in a similar sad but predictable manner, that painful and brutal time-honoured tradition of passing the torch.

Keith Thurman would be better, but Terrence Crawford would be preferred by most, and maybe the only true test out there.

Plenty might disagree, but I think Spence Jr is the best welterweight on the planet, but he needs to prove it, or probably more accurately, be allowed to prove it.

Hopefully, the politics won’t leave us with a case of us still not knowing just how good Spence Jr really is, we need to know just what the ‘The Truth’ is.