IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr isn’t playing around for his fight tonight against the always lethal Danny Garcia at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Fresh off his car accident from a year ago, Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) says his goal is to “massacre” Danny or “beat him up” in a one-sided 12 round decision.
It’s important in Spence’s mind to make sure he wins decisively against Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) because he wants to show his critics that he’s still the same fighter he was before his car wreck in 2019.
It doesn’t help that many boxing fans say that Spence was given a gift decision against his opponent ‘Showtime’ Shawn Porter last year in September at the Staples Center in Los Angles, California.
Although Spence’s coach wanted him to box Porter from the outside, he opted to slug it out with him at close range, making the fight a lot harder than it should have been.
Errol rates Garcia fight behind Brook
“I can’t say it’s the biggest fight of my career, but it’s definitely a huge fight,” said Spence to Morning Kombat. “I really can’t put anything on top of the Kell Brook fight, fighting in somebody else’s hometown in front of 30,000+ fans, his fans.
“But it [Garcia] is a huge fight. If not the first, it’s probably the second because I’m coming off of my accident, and I’m fighting at home in my return fight.
“Danny Garcia is a great fighter, and nobody has ever blown him out of the water,” said Errol.
Back when Spence fought Kell Brook in 2017, the British fighter was at the height of his popularity, still holding his IBF welterweight title, and coming off a fifth-round knockout win over a prime middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin.
When Spence fought Brook, it was in front of 30,000+ British fans in Sheffield, England. Brook was still in the prime of his career, unlike Garcia, who has beaten twice since 2017.
Tonight, Spence will be fighting in front of a much smaller crowd than that at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and the fans will be on his side, not Garcia’s.
Going into the UK and beating Brook in front of his own fans made it more meaningful for Spence.
Spence not worried about Danny’s left hook
“Of course, you have respect for a punch, but I don’t react to it,” Errol said when asked if he has respect for Danny’s no-look left hook. He can throw it all he wants, but he’s got to land it.
“He said he was going to win and upset me at home. I’m focused on what’s in front of me.
“I envision getting my hand raised,” Spence said when asked to predict an outcome for tonight’s clash with Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia.
It sounds like Spence is being a tad bit disingenuous by casting doubt about Garcia’s ability to land his big trademark left hook that he likes to throw.
Garcia will land his left hook tonight at some point, and it’s only a question of whether Spence will be able to take it without going down.
As many times that Spence was hit by Porter’s best shots in their fight in September 2019, you have to believe that Garcia will connect with his left hook a lot.
Spence needs to employ a conservative game plan tonight to make sure that he doesn’t get brained by Danny’s left hooks early in the contest when he’s at full strength.
As we’ve seen in some of Garcia’s fights, he retains his power even late.
It’s still a good idea for Spence to start slowly and not take too many chances early in the fight before he’s figured out how to get to Danny without getting hit by his left hooks.
What would be really impressive is Spence could knockout Danny early in the fight while he’s still fresh and dangerous.
A few years ago, Garcia showed no interest in fighting Spence before he ran into Keith Thurman. The loss that Garcia suffered against Shawn Porter in 2018 seems to have changed his perspective, as he might realize that he doesn’t have too much time left before his career is over.
If Danny had passed up a fight against Spence now, he’d have been expected to face the likes of Thurman, Porter, or Yordenis Ugas. It’s unclear whether Garcia can beat any of those fighters.
Spence planning on slaughtering Garcia
“I want this to be one-sided, either a massacre or a one-sided win,” said Spence about his plans for Garcia. “I want a one-sided beating.
“It’ll be my second-best victory after the Kell Brook fight. So I’ll definitely be hyped after this fight,” said Spence.
If Spence boxes his way to a decision, fans will still have a lot of doubts about his chin and his ability to take a punch.
If anything, it’ll invite even more criticism of Spence and help entrench the belief that his car accident took something away from him.
Spence has no other choice but to go to war with Danny, beat him at his own game, and look to knock him out in impressive fashion
Errol says he wants to beat Danny Garcia worse than he’s ever been beaten before. The fact is, Garcia has never beaten up during his career.
These are arguably Garcia’s toughest fights:
- Keith Thurman
- Shawn Porter
- Erik Morales – first fight
- Mauricio Herrera
- Lamont Peterson
- Lucas Matthysse
- Robert Guerrero
- Zab Judah
- Kendall Holt
- Ashley Theophane
Those were all very competitive fights, and in some cases, Garcia was lucky to win.
A lot of boxing fans thought Herrera and Peterson should have given wins over Danny. Even Robert Guerrero gave Danny major problems in their fight in 2016.
Just going on the guys that Garcia has struggled to defeat during his career, he’s not likely to win tonight against Spence. Unless Spence’s punch resistance is gone from his car accident, he should beat Danny.
The guys that Garcia has had a hard time beating during his career wouldn’t last long against Spence.