Errol Spence easily defeats Cruz

By Boxing News - 06/27/2014 - Comments

By Jim Dower: In a fight that was supposed to have been a competitive one, welterweight prospect Errol Spence (13-0, 10 KO’s) easily defeated the tough Ronald Cruz (20-4, 15 KO’s) by a 10 round unanimous decision on Friday night at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Spence, a 2012 U.S Olympian, got the better of the slower Cruz with a higher work rate in each round.

From the 5th round on, Spence increased the power on his shots when he realized that there wasn’t much to fear from Cruz in the way of power.

It was pretty one-sided in rounds 8 through 10, and hardly worth watching because Spence was just teeing off against an opponent who didn’t have the power to threaten him.
The judges scored the fight 100-90, 100-90, and 100-90.

Spence retreated each time Cruz would come at him in rounds one through four. He spent more time in the pocket from the 5th round, and he was a lot more effective with his shots when he wasn’t constantly moving around the ring.

Spence looks like a good prospect along the same lines as Devon Alexander, but not quite as fast or as powerful as him. The thing that separates Spence from Alexandre is his mobility and his higher work rate. Other than that, Alexander has faster hands and better power. Spence might go somewhere if he can handle the harder punching guys like Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter.

The way he looked last night, he’d struggle against both of them, and would likely lose. But him and Alexander would be an even fight, but he might struggle against someone like Amir Khan because he’s not as fast or as powerful as him.

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Undefeated middleweight Dominic Wade (16-0, 11 KO’s) defeated the shorter Nick Brinson (16-1-2, 6 KO’s) by a 10 round unanimous decision. The judges’ scores were 96-94, 97-93 and 97-93. The 5′ 10½″ Wade walked Brinson down in rounds one through seven in landing the more numerous shots. He connected a lot with jabs and combinations. In rounds 8 through 10, Brinson stopped backing up and took the fight to Wade and made it a little more interesting.

Wade isn’t that fast or that powerful. He’s going to have problems if/when he faces the likes of Gennady Golovkin, because he does not match up well with him. At best, Wade looks like a career-long contender.

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In an off TV fight, cruiserweight prospect Marcus Browne (11-0, 8 KO’s) destroyed an over-matched Donta Woods (8-3, 7 KO’s) by a 1st round knockout. Browne rushed Woods to chop him down with power shots. The fight was stopped at 1:21 of the round.
Browne was a member of the 2012 U.S Olympic team, but was eliminated in his first fight of the Olympics. Browne shows promise, but he has a long ways to go before anyone can tell whether he’ll accomplish anything at the pro level. He was good at chopping down a limited fighter like Woods, but it might be a different story if he’s put in with someone that can punch back at him like Marco Huck, Rakhim Chakhkiev, Thabiso Mchunu and Ilunga Makabu.

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In a surprise early knockout, 32-year-old heavyweight prospect Gerald Washington (13-0, 8 KO’s) destroyed 35-year-old journeyman Travis Walker (39-12, 31 KO’s) by a 2nd round knockout. Washington dropped Walker in the 2nd round. The fight was stopped at 0:31 of the round. Walker landed some good shots in the 1st round, but his defense was poor and his punch resistance not there. At 32, Washington needs to speed up the pace of his development if he wants to accomplish something before he gets too old to compete.

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In a mismatch, cruiserweight BJ Flores (30-1-1, 19 KO’s) defeated Anthony Smith (15-3, 10 KO’s) by an 8 round unanimous decision in a stay busy fight for Flores. The final judges’ scores were 80-72, 80-72 and 80-72. Flories is capable of beating much better opposition than this, and you have to wonder why he’s not looking to face the top guys in the division. At 35, Flores is wasting a lot of time with his career by not facing the best each time he fights.



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