By Jaime Ortega: Errol Spence Jr. surgically slewed Chris Algieri after a one sided beat-down. It was complete domination from start to end without much hope left for Chris, who after his loss should consider retirement – perhaps start another kickboxing career—boxing gave Chris enough chances.
Early in the fight Chris tried to use speed and pressure to counterbalance Errol’s tempo and accuracy to avoid an early knockout. Once Chris savored Errol’s power, his strategy busted into a nightmare without escape. Errol’s vicious and accurate body shots peppered Chris body slowing his pace and stamina till the KO inevitable came, with an already slayed Chris. Chris was out-boxed and never truly had the power to stop an elite champ like Errol, much less the boxing prowess.
Today justice was made. Errol is no joke, I’ve said it a few years back, and will state it again—the man has explosive vicious counters that could laid waste any top boxer. He showed class in the Olympics and lost an unusual match to a Kazakh boxer who utilized Bruce Lee’s footwork to win; a technique that realistically only works for three rounds, not twelve rounds. Errol came along way since his Olympic loss, and has gained a lot of experience on his way to become a legend.
Errol not only showed class yesterday, but how much a threat he presents to the welterweight division stacked with great talents such as Danny Garcia, Konstantin Pomonarev, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Amir Khan, Timothy Bradley, Jessy Vargas, Kell Brook and Saddam Ali — not to mention a possible retirement comeback from Pacquiao and Mayweather incase the opportunity presents itself — or the possibility that Terrence Crawford, Eduard Troyanovski or Viktor Postol could move up in weight class and join the contested welterweight division at one point — or future international talents lurking the welterweight division like Teerachai Kratingdaenggym and Dmitri Mikhaylenko.
Konstantin Pomonarev gave prospect Brad Salomon his first loss; how would he pair with Errol? Konstantin has a great amateur record and has a lot of stamina and technique. However, a fight with Errol would present real difficulties for the Russian to overcome. The Russian has not faced a boxer-puncher like Errol before. Theoretically, Errol would probably knockout the Russian via body shots; however, given his style, Konstantin is not an easy boxer to knockout — so could be an interesting outcome.
Jessie Vargas does not possess the boxing ability to stop Errol. Jessie beat Saddam Ali only because Ali has no real power to pack a punch, and was clearly out-boxed until Ali’s defensive slip costed him a knockout. Jessie would get bamboozled and stopped by Errol early in the fight.
Everyone in the welterweight division wants a piece of Danny Garcia. But how would Danny pair up with Errol? Danny possesses a granite chin, which makes it hard for any boxer to knock him out. Yet, Errol would decimate Danny with body shots and slowly wear him down to knock him out. Danny and his father will avoid colliding paths with Errol for as long as they possibly can to remain undefeated.
Shawn Porter would suffocate Errol with high pressure, but eventually get stopped. Make no mistake Shawn would bring the fight to Errol – if he gets lucky it might even go to the score cards — but, don’t bet on it. Errol would not allow Shawn to impose his game plan and would eventually find openings on Shawn’s weak defense to knock him out with a big shot.
Kell Brook could present difficulties for Errol, but Errol has the experience and ability to control the tempo and pace of the fight. The problem with Kell is that no boxing analyst can truly tell his potential outside his victory with Shawn Porter — thus far, his toughest challenge. Kell’s main arsenal resides on his ability to jab combinations; he throws them well, but would his basics boxing repertoire matchup with Errol’s boxing ability? I hardly doubt it. Kell needs to prove himself with other boxers before stepping in the ring with Errol. In my opinion, Errol beats him, but not sure if he knocks him out.
There’s one wildcard that would be interesting to watch. Errol should fight Diego Chaves in his next bout—a lot of fighters will duck Errol so it will be hard to fight for tittle belts. Diego Chaves is much underrated but knows how to box; he frustrates opponents with dirty tricks and has the power and aggression to intimidate any boxer. Diego lost to Keith Thurman, but Diego’s matchup with Thurman shouldn’t have taken place so early in their careers — clearly Keith’s harshest test. Kell Brook was supposed to fight Diego in October last year, but team Brook postponed the fight due to injury and took instead on less risky Kevin Bizier. Diego’s disqualification result with Bradom Rios was a biased decision and was clearly beating the Mexican. Diego packs a vicious punch, is very aggressive and unlike Chris Algieri he punishes his opponents and has a good chin– not one of his opponents has left the ring without taking significant punishment. Diego is underrated and should fight Errol next since he is without challenger.
Out of all the possible welterweight contestants to stop Errol, only Thurman presents a realistic case where power boons enough difference to bulge-rip through any elite boxer — yes, Thurman can box, and has the power to stop Errol. Thurman showed in the Luis Collazo fight that he can take a clean body shot to the liver and persist to win like a champ. He has the speed, dynamite, heart and boxing ability to stop Errol. Errol versus Thurman could possibly become an epic trilogy, since both fighters have what it takes to stop each other—I slightly give Thurman the edge, but wouldn’t bet money on it.
The legend speaks that Errol gave Floyd Mayweather Jr. a black eye, and Floyd got upset and kicked him out the gym during a sparring session a few years back—this rumor has permeated Las Vegas for a few years but was confirmed by Sam Watson in an interview in 2013. If Floyd decides to return and overcome Rocky Marciano’s record, he probably won’t risk fighting Errol.
Errol has all it takes to dominate the welterweight division. Aggression, technique, defense, speed, movement and power are the requirements for any top boxer to succeed and he has it all.