He's literally only fought 2 world class 147 fighters in his entire career and he struggled like crazy against both of them and this is despite one of them being: Damaged goods Coming off a stoppage loss A bad beating A terrible eye injury and gruesome surgery to repair it Back down from 2 divisions North after bulking up to fight up at 160 and it's hardly the biggest secret that making 147 prior to bulking up was living hell for them And a vicious head clash in round 8 shattered their non-Good Boy'd eye which had a big impact on both them and the path the fight subsequently took. This content is protected And the other was coming off a loss too, or rather should've been if not for corruption, to the bang average Ugas And Spence Salido'd the crap out of their plums all night in those fights too which is obviously going to sap you of energy So he's fought 5 world class fighters in total and he's been feasting on Featherfist Pie and Leprechaun Soup for the most part. Brook KO 65% = damaged goods Mikey KO 75% blown up 135 pounder whose KO% above 135 = zero and was fighting in his 5th weight class and one he has no right being up at Porter KO 50% should've lost to Ugas in his last fight Algieri KO 33% career 140 pounder who was 1-2 in his last 3 fights Peterson KO 41% career 140 pounder who should've been 1-2 in his last 3 fights These ^^^^ are the only world class fighters Spence has fought Bundu KO 32% Van Heerden KO 40% Ocampo KO 56% Lo Greco KO 47% Even Spence admitted Ocampo had no power
I did pick Spence to win, but also said it won't be easy and is a 50/50 fight. That's the thing with Porter though, he forces opponents to fight his fight with his aggression. He did this to all the quality fighters he fought. Others reacted differently based on their styles, but none of them had an easy time in there.
All depends on how you view things imo.If you still have that Floyd Mayweather mentality where having that zero is everything then you gonna be disappointed with everyone. Canelo lost to Floyd,beat Lara and Trout but should have a loss and at the very least a draw to Golovkin but he's still a great fighter. I reckon the Thurman that beat Porter would of beaten Spence and if anything good has come out of this it's showed the rest that they don't need to hide from Porter as he ain't the knockout artist they thought he were. Danny Garcia on his night could well beat Spence imo.
I went into this fight believing Spence was the top of the division with Crawford. 50/50. I'm not sure he could take 3 rounds off of Crawford. Most likely it's 118-110 type of fight and that clearly the reason PBC want no goddamn part of it. His power is overrated (Garcia and Porter proved that) at the elite level. He's too linear and doesn't have anything close to elite athleticism. Pacquiao beats spence in a 7-5 or 8-4 type of fight. Too fast, too good on angles and Spence's power wouldn't trouble him. Thurman is absolutely a live dog in this fight. I wouldn't have said that before. Keith is far more athletic, faster, equal power and could move around the ring all night and I kinda doubt Spence could corner him. Danny Garcia is also a live dog. He has the same strengths and weaknesses as Spence for the most part. He throws less than Errol and doesn't attack the body as well, but his left hook is deadlier than any weapon that Spence possesses. The question now is what's next for Spence?? I think Pacquiao is never happening. Manny's team is happy to fight Mikey, Khan in Arabia and maybe rematch Thurman down the line before calling it a day. Not sure Spence or Porter will hurry to rematch each other. That was a dog fight. Another like that could really take some years off both their careers. All signs point to Danny Garcia. I get PBC not wanting to give Crawford a fight....but is Danny Garcia really a more lucrative fight for everyone involved than Crawford??? No.
Did you ever consider that when he moves up to 160 he will be way stronger and even sharper as he is not sacrificing to cut wait. I also have it on Authority he spars regularly with heavyweights, light heavyweights etc. He is an ambitious boy. You don’t beat Canelo on size it’s going to have to be skills which Spence has plenty of.
I love Danny Garcia but Spence will beat him. His skills are better, more athletic, faster and greater punch variety and he is just as tough.
Forget middleweight, he wouldn't get past J-Rock at 154. I'm not sure he beats faded Lara at this point, either.
I've said on here that I'd be worried for Mannys health against Spence but I'm not so sure now.I have said all along that I think Crawford beats him on account of that old adage that speed/skills beat power.After his last few fights I could amend that further as I don't necessarily think Spence has greater power than Crawford anyway? Both Crawford and Spence are running out of opponents and they really ought to be looking to fight each other sooner than later.. Got an awful feeling it will never happen though.
Spence isn't top 5 p4p.. not in my book.. p4p is about achievements, how they handle the opposition they fight, skill level etc.. & Spence doesn't stack up to guys who have fully unified divisions, made people quit, multiple weight champions over short periods etc.. There has been serious question marks over many of his opponents.. Brook was coming down two weights coming off a loss & skull surgery, Garcia isn't a WW, Peterson is a career LWW & years past his peak, Bundu was 42 LOL.. Spence isn't a 'beast' & he isn't as some of u advertised.. very good WW undoubtedly but at the peak of his power he just arguably LOST to a limited brawler like Porter.. & apart from that what else has he really done? Brook? I'm suprised he was even given a license to fight.. Loma Usyk Crawford Canelo Inoue Are on lock right now for me.. interchange them as you will but they're the 5 best fighters in boxing right now IMO.. bottom half of the top 10 starts getting more open though.. I also think the winner of Beterbiev/Gvozdyk has an argument for just scraping into it too.. Spence is probably in the top 10 still but barely..
Not sure but like you I rated him highly. Seeds of doubt have been planted after what I saw. But, every fighter has a bad style matchup. Floyd had issues with Collazo and Maidana. Pac vs JMM ... Spence could make it look easy against Crawford or Thurman. We just never know until they fight.
He’s not overated. He is the best of an average to decent bunch of welters. Historically, well that’s a different conversation and one he’s not even close to. A good young fighter who has some tools but let’s not get carried away.