By Patrick McHugh: Since dispatching the normally durable Chris Algieri (21-3, 8 KOs) in five rounds last Saturday night in their IBF welterweight title eliminator, Errol Spence Jr’s win has been put under the microscope by some members of the media and by fans, who are looking for a reason to help explain why he was able to stop Algieri so quickly in their fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The latest explanation that some have latched onto is that the 32-year-old Algieri was weight drained for the fight. Algieri looked huge in the ring last night, especially in comparison to how he appeared at Friday’s weigh-in. Algieri weighed in at 145.6lbs at the weigh-in, and he was very thin looking like he’d taken too much weight off while dehydrating to make the 147lb limit.
By coming in a little too low at 145.6, Algieri took a little too much weight off while draining down. On the night of the fight last Saturday, Algieri looked at least 20 pounds heavier than he was for the weigh-in. This means that Algieri might have been as heavy as 165, possibly even heavier. He looked bigger than Spence by at least 10 pounds, but the weight didn’t help Algieri because he wasn’t throwing with enough power on his shots and he looked slow on his feet.
Spence’s promoter Lou Dibella wasn’t buying any excuses for Algieri being weight drained. At the post-fight press conference, Dibella said he thinks Algieri should have eaten less if he had any problems making weight for the fight. He also thinks Algieri was simply in with a better fighter than himself and the weight wasn’t the reason why he was dominated.
“I don’t know. He [Algieri] was a 140 pounder. This fight he was a 147 pounder,” Dibella said about Algieri in addressing the claims that he was weight-drained last Saturday night. “If he had to lose too much weight, then he shouldn’t eat as much. He’s a real fighter. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be there. He simply fought a better fighter tonight,” Dibella said about Algieri facing a more talented guy in 26-year-old Spence.
If Algieri was weight drained last night, then he’s going to need to re-think how he prepares for his fights. It was only recently that Algieri started putting a lot of weight on after he rehydrated for his fights at welterweight. When Algieri fought Pacquiao in 2014 at welterweight, he was thin and able to move around the ring well.
Algieri then put on a lot of weight for his fight against Amir Khan last May and looked like a super middleweight in the ring with him. The weight seemed to help Algieri because he was able to take Khan’s shots without any problems, and his power shots seemed to bother Khan. Algieri didn’t look quite as big for his last fight against Erick Bone last December. He won that fight without any problems.
As good as Spence looked last night, I don’t think it would have mattered if Algieri was lighter. Algieri was going to have problems no matter what with Spence’s superior punching power and his fierce body attack.