By Jeff Aranow: Unbeaten #2 IBF welterweight contender Errol Spence Jr. (20-0, 17 KOs) is hoping to improve on the performance by Keith “One Time” Thurman in his fight against #6 IBF Leonard Bundu (33-1-2, 12 KOs) by knocking him out when the two of them face each other net month on August 21 at the Ford Aphitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk in Brooklyn, New York.
Spence and Bundu will be fighting in an IBF welterweight eliminator bout on Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC. The winner of the fight locks themselves into the #1 IBF mandatory spot for a world title fight against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook.
At this point, it remains to be seen whether Brook will be coming back down to welterweight after he faces IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in their fight on September 10. It’s possible that Brook could wind up vacating his IBF 147lb title or having it stripped from him by the International Boxing Federation. It all depends on how well Brook does against Golovkin, and whether he can move back down in weight. Brook is weighing in the 170s right now, and it’s not going to be easy for him to take the fight off to continue fighting at welterweight.
“He [Bundu] fought well against Keith Thurman. Thurman out-boxed him but couldn’t knock him out. I think I can make a big statement in the division if I can stop him, as I did with Chris Algieri,” said Spence.
It’ll be impressive if Spence can score a knockout victory over Bundu, because Thurman couldn’t do it. He looked afraid of Bundu in that fight, Spence is seen as the next Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the welterweight division by a lot of boxing fans. Bundu might prove to be little more than speed bump for Spence to roll over on his way to capturing the IBF welterweight title against Kell Brook or by picking it up outside of the ring if Brook vacates the belt.
Thurman beat Bundu by a 12 round decision in December 2014. Thurman knocked the 5’7” Bundu down in the 1st round of that fight, but then spent the next 11 rounds more or less running from him. Bundu nailed Thurman with some nice shots on the inside in rounds two and three, and this led to Thurman choosing to run for the remainder of the fight. It was boring to watch, but Thurman got the victory.
“I am going to use my experience to my advantage on August 21,” said Bundu. “When I fought Thurman I ended up being overcautious, but that will not be the case this time. I know it’s now or never for me and I won’t let this chance slip away. Spence will come forward but that will work to my advantage because I love fighting on the inside. I’m going to show Spence a few things that he hasn’t seen before.”
It might not be a good idea for Bundu to fight Spence on the inside because he’s going to be giving away too much in the power department. Spence likes to fight on the inside, and he’s a huge puncher. If Bundu decides to fight him in close, this fight could end quickly with Spence overpowering the soon to be 42-year-old Bundu.
Bundu has won his last two fights against Pablo Munguia and Jussi Koivula. He looked good in those fights, but he wasn’t facing world class opposition.