Saturday night was a spectacular night for the welterweight division as Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter went at it tooth and nail for two versions of the world title.
In what was a superb advert for the 147 pound division, Spence edged Porter via a split in what was the correct decision by the judges.
Spence did just enough, although both fighters enhanced their profile considerably.
One strange thing transpired in the ring as fans and media alike caught their breath. Danny Garcia walked in and was announced as the next opponent for Spence.
Now don’t get me wrong, Garcia deserves the chance to fight for another championship on career achievement alone, but Al Haymon having the two-weight ruler waiting in the wings seemed a tad hasty.
Haymon, who regularly likes to have two of his boxers go head-to-head in the immediate aftermath of contests, fully didn’t compensate for a rematch.
Facing Garcia next is really not an encounter on top of the agenda.
After witnessing one of the most entertaining bouts at the weight class of recent years, Spence vs Porter II has to be of the utmost importance.
Only Manny Pacquiao in a three-belt battle should stand in the way.
The simple fact of what took place in the ring should be enough evidence, although CompuBox have since put together a host of reasons why the second offering has to happen in 2020.
SPENCE W 12 (spl) PORTER – BY THE NUMBERS
3- jabs landed per round by Spence after landing 7 per round in his previous 6 fights (welter avg.: 5).
7- number of rounds in which Spencer & Porter were within 4 connects of each other.
(Thurman & Porter were within 5 connects of each other in 10 of 12 rounds in their fight)
9.4- body shots landed per round by Spence, double the CompuBox avg.
26- punches landed by Spence in round 12, his high for the fight.
26- punches landed by Porter in round 4, most by a Spence opponent.
41%- time spent in close range by Spence-Porter after Porter spent just 17% of the Ugas fight at close range (according to CompuTrack).
44- power punches thrown per round by Porter vs. Spence after throwing 37 per round in his previous 10 fights, #1 among top tier welterweights.
51%- pct. of Spence’s landed punches that were to body of Porter (CompuBox Avg. : 29.5%).
62- punches thrown per round by Porter after averaging 52 per round in his previous 10 fights (welter avg.: 57).
62- punches thrown per round by Spence after averaging 72 per round in his previous 6 fight.
88- punches thrown by Spence in round 12, his high for the fight.
90- punches thrown by Porter in round 4, most by a Spence opponent.
113- body shots landed by Spence, a career-high.
172- punches landed by Porter in the fight, most by a Spence opponent.
744- punches thrown by Porter in the fight, most by a Spence opponent.
WHAT WE LEARNED:
Shawn Porter took away Spence’s jab with effective feinting and footwork.
Porter has now lost razor-thin decisions to Spence (they were within 4 connects of each other in 7 of 12 rounds) & Thurman (they were within 5 connects of each other in 10 of 12 rounds).
Porter is WAY more effective at close range. 41% of Porter-Spence was fought inside resulting in 172 landed punches by Porter. Just 17% of Porter-Ugas was spend at close range, resulting in just 144 landed punches by Porter.
Spence’s body attack was the difference in this fight. He landed nearly 10 per round and half his landed punches were to the body of Porter.
Spence rallied late with the fight in the balance, landing 23 of 80 punches in rounds 11 & 12.
Needless to say, Porter was Spence’s toughest opponent to date. He landed 172 punches, most by a Spence opponent.