By Jim Dower: Unbeaten Errol Spence Jr. (20-0, 17 KOs) weighed in successfully at 146.2 pounds on Saturday afternoon for his IBF welterweight eliminator bout against Leonard Bundu (33-1-2, 12 KOs) this Sunday, August 21 on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC from the Ford Amphitheater in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. Bundu also weighed in at 146.2lbs.
Both guys looked in top shape for this contest. The winner of the fight will be the mandatory challenger to IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook. The winner will be waiting for Brook to come back down to the welterweight division after his brief challenge of IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin on September 10.
(Photo credit: Ryan Greene/Premier Boxing Champions & Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment)
There’s an outside chance that Brook could remain at 160 if he beats Golovkin or if he’s competitive with him in their fight at the O2 Arena in London, England. It’s not likely that Brook will beat Golovkin, but he does have a chance of making it a hotly contested fight for as long as it lasts. That might be enough to Keep Brook from coming back down in weight to defend his IBF title against the Spence vs. Bundu winner.
In the final press conference this week, Bundu was almost completely overlooked as far as questions go. Every question seemed to be directed on what Spence would do after he beats Bundu. It was hard to look at Bundu during this time and see him as a serious threat to beating Spence, because he’s seen as little more than the token lamb for the 26-year-old Spence to slaughter in this fight as he moves towards what could be his first of many world title wins.
The two fighters are so far apart in size, power, youth and talent that it’s difficult to believe they’re actually facing each other. The 5’9 ½” Spence had a three inch height and reach advantage over the 5’6 1/2” Bundu, and his power advantage will make it even more extreme on Sunday.
Bundu has talked about wanting to work Spence over if he tries to work on the inside against him on August 21. Bundu, 41, is a very good inside fighter. However, he’s facing a guy with top notch inside fighting skills in the 26-year-old Spence, and it’s going to be very tough for Bundu to be able to hang with Spence if he chooses to go to the inside and start nailing him with big body shots in this fight.
It should be a good fight, as it’s a step up for Spence from the recent guys he’s been fighting. I wouln’t say it’s a big step up for Spence, because he’s already been in with Chris Algieri, Chris Van Heerden and Alejandro Barrera. Those are pretty decent fighters. Bundu may or may not be able to beat those guys, but it would be very tough if he could beat them.
The Bundu fight will give the boxing world a good chance to measure how good Spence is. Bundu fought Keith Thurman two years ago in 2014 and wound up losing a 12 round unanimous decision. Thurman wasn’t able to knockout Bundu, as he looked like he didn’t want to take any risks against the Italian based fighter. Bundu hit Thurman with some solid shots in the early going that make him think twice about trying to shoot for a knockout.
Thurman looked like he didn’t want to take any risks by shooting for a knockout. Spence is going to be looking to take the needed risks to get Bundu out of there, because he realizes how important it is for him to not only beat Bundu but also knock him out in the process. That would be a huge feather in Spence’s cap if he could go one step further than what Thurman was capable of doing, since Thurman is currently the World Boxing Association welterweight champion at this time and is seen by many as the best fighter in the 147lb division.
Spence is not interested in fighting Brook if he doesn’t choose to come back down to 147 and defend his IBF welterweight title.
“The weight is 147. That’s where the title is so there is no reason to make your own weight. 147’s the weight,” said Spence to Fighthub.com about whether or not he would move up to fight Brook at a catch-weight if he defeats Golovkin.