I admit I overrated Spence in his prime

It's no secret that I said circa 2017-2019 that I had Spence beating Bud. I'll eat crow and admit I was wrong back then.

Let's be clear for those discrediting Crawford: At no point was Spence on par with Bud in terms of speed (physical speed and mind speed), explosiveness, and skill.

I knew that back then, but I figured EJ would be too strong for Bud. I underestimated back then how physically strong Bud is.

Looking back now, Brook giving Spence a rough fight through 7 should have been a red flag.

Bud beats his ass at any point in time. Stop with the million excuses for Spence.

 

Yeah I agree Bud is better. No excuses. It would have been more competitive back in 2017. But you have to figure Bud’s ring IQ and versatility make the difference every time.

 

Spence was just so outgunned - his punches seemed to bounce off Crawford. And it seemed like every shot Crawford landed shook Spence.

 

No doubt, while I slightly favored Crawford in his prime (thought he was past it but seems like it isn't the case after all), I think it's now quite obvious that Spence is a solid B+ fighter but below the A class guys. A bit disappointing in how one sided this was...

 

man, that goes without saying. I had spence big. Shows what I know about boxing

 

I wish I had been more realistic about EJ. Stacking him up against the best welters of the past 30 years, I think he'd lose to Tito, Ike, Pea, Shane, Oscar, Forrest, and Floyd.

I wonder how Spence vs Tall Paul would have looked.

 

This version of spence wasn't a representation of how he'd perform at his best vs any welter.

 

Not saying it is, but even at his very best he had a rough go with Shawn, and had to grind down Brook.

 

Was he at his very best vs porter?

He'd been living the life for while and struggling to make welter

 

I thought Bud would win but post- accident Spence has seemed more vulnerable. I watched the Ugas fight again last week and I was surprised at how stunned he was during that one exchange. He recovered and won but his punch resistance definitely seemed reduced.

Crawford's speed difference was unreal. Spence just never seemed to be in the fight and his best punches left him open for counters that did major damage.

 

I think Spence was overrated a little in the sense that people were at one point claiming things like he was better than Inoue, sticking him above Usyk on the P4P list, and of course, saying he would beat Crawford.

But I don't think the assessment of him as a fighter was far off the mark when talking about how he'd fair in MMs. Sure, he wouldn't beat the top guys from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, but he wouldn't disgrace himself either. I'd still pick him over guys like Cotto, Palomino, and Mayorga. Nor would he fail to be competitive in stretches against Ike, De La Hoya or even Mayweather IMO. He just never had the stuff to beat them outright, and that's okay. I don't think anyone truly overrated him - no-one was like "Spence would KO Ray Leonard in six".

Lee Wylie said it on twitter the other day, before the fight. Crawford has acclimated to fighting at welterweight for years now. He questioned whether or not Spence still had a physical advantage in strength over Crawford and I agreed with him. Crawford showed himself strong enough to wrestle with Porter and Horn. Say what you want about Jeff Horn's fighting ability, but that's a strong guy.

 

Spence is a good strong fighter. Good enough to scrape by guys like Ugas and Porter. But Bud is on another level of talent. I've watched boxing since I was a kid and Bud is the best fighter I've seen in my life time. He can do it all.

 

I agree that Spence beats Palomino and Mayorga.

He might have his moments against Oscar, but I fear that Oscar would catch him in between punches with a hook he doesn't see, and starch him.

As for Floyd, I really hate to say it, but I think Floyd in is physical prime beats the Hell outta Spence. Spence might take 2 rounds or so, but most of the night he's gonna be several steps behind.

 

My thoughts of the ODLH match-up is pretty much the same. Oscar struggles at first with the southpaw stance and volume, but eventually feeds his left hook between Spence's jabs and hurts him enough to shift the tide in his favour.

As for Floyd, I basically think Spence is a tall southpaw with a good jab and that's gonna trouble a shorter defensive fighter for a while. I expect Floyd to take over and not look back before the half way mark, but it'd be a fight unlike one Floyd has been in before IMO.

 

Really really terrible matchups for Spence would be Leonard, Hearns, Duran, and Trinidad.

I also think that prime Mosley fucks him up bad, but not as bad as the four above.

 

Spence would've wrecked Williams.

 

"Wrecked"?

Paul Williams was better than both Porter and Brook. Paul Williams has the single best win between the two (Margarito).

No problem with you saying Spence would win, but just about everything indicates that it'd be a very competitive fight. A fight that Paul has an excellent chance in, actually.

 

I’d take Spence over Cotto, Williams, and Margarito but he’d have to earn it.

 

There’s not that many welterweights who’d match up well with those four!

 

So, I rewatched Spence-Brook just now. First time I watched it since the year it happened. I wanted to see exactly how much Spence has slipped in 6 years. Brook was way more successful than I remembered. And Spence, even then in his physical prime, struggled big time with Brook's quickness through 7. Brook basically dominated for the first 6 rounds, that I did not realize until just now.

I don't know what I was ever thinking. Bud would have whipped Spence's ass even in 2017.

 

Luckily for you can subscribe to my monthly "Knowing about boxing" newsletter for only $14.99/month. This offer extends to everybody who picked Errol Spence. In fact, this offer is open to anyone but only for a limited time.

Also for only $4.99 per month extra you can become a platinum member.

 

Honestly I'm not sure at all he would beat Mayorga considering his chin seems a bit soft and that he probably don t have enough power to deter him. Mayorga was a beast in his prime and people kinda underrate him now, especially about how fast he was

 

I’d take Spence over Mayorga, whom lost to Corey Spinks. Spence would out work him and win a UD.

 

Mayorga isn’t getting underrated these days, he’s getting properly rated to make up for all those years he was overrated based on a KO of Forrest and 6 Heads (who?) Lewis. Mayorga legitimately sucked and I was seriously wondering why his name was even brought up amongst the other great welters of that era. Maybe it was to see how he’d fare against a skillless, durable, brawler with overrated power. My guess is he would have boxed Mayorga’s ears off.

 

What does Spinks have to do with Spence?

 

you think his punch resistance was the same back then as now?

 

I think Spence is a better fighter than Spinks. I don’t see Mayorga having the ability to beat Spence.

 

Peak spence gives Mayorga a savage beatdown

 

No, I think it was better then. But he still loses, as he would still be too slow for Bud.