Last Week in Boxing: Errol Spence Stakes His Claim as the Next Big Thing
Last Week in Boxing: Errol Spence Stakes His Claim as the Next Big Thing
Errol Spence Jr. beat up Leonard Bundu at the perfect time and in the perfect manner. Was a new boxing star born on NBC?
Life is all about opportunity and making the most of your chances. The greatest boxing stars of our time are individuals who, at precisely the right moment, performed at their very best.
Of course a random Sunday afternoon in August opposite a 41 year old man doesn't sound like a great boxing opportunity--but Errol Spence Jr. (21-0) certainly made the most of it. Spence and PBC received a lead-in of millions of viewers thanks to NBC's Olympic coverage, and made it entertaining enough for them to stick around by blowing out Leonard Bundu (33-2-2) in six rounds. Sure, Spence was a 100-1 favorite. But context can be everything. And in this context, casual fans didn't see an overmatched tomato can. They saw a young star on the verge of greatness.
Bundu, to his credit, came out to fight. In fact, he spent much of the fight on the front foot, throwing shots from sometimes unorthodox angles. You could even argue he took a round.
But this success was illusory--Spence didn't come to win in a risk free fashion, the way Andre Ward had earlier in the month. He was there to land hard power shots and seek an early end to a bout. That requires, on some level, risk. He could have very easily gone out and acted much as Keith Thurman had in his fight with Bundu, carrying the overmatched opponent and arriving at unanimous 12-0 scorecards after an hour or so of sleep inducing action.
Spence, instead, used combination punching and counters to impose himself on a foe he was bound and determined to finish. The KO came in mid-combination with a hard right hand to the head of a crouching Bundu. He leaned back, unconscious, bending his leg uncomfortably backwards. It was a star-making visual perfect for an audience who knew precious little about either man when the broadcast started.
For Spence Jr., the future is now. Like anyone under the PBC umbrella, there are tons of great options. Unfortunately none of them are likely to come to pass. After all, Bundu himself was a grossly overmatched opponent brought in because of his absurdly high IBF ranking. Spence, now the mandatory for Kell Brook, will likely never face the upcoming Golovkin opponent for a litany of reasons. Instead, bouts with Konstantin Ponomarev orJeff Horn for a vacant strap seem much more likely in a fractured division.
-Heather Hardy (18-0) won a close and punch-filled affair with Shelly Vincent (18-1) as the co-feature bout for Spence/Bundu. This was PBC's first attempt at televising a women's boxing match, and they clearly selected wisely by picking two undefeated, skilled, and action-oriented fighters. Whether or not PBC continues the experiment remains to be seen, but with Clarissa Shields exiting the 2016 Olympics with her second gold medal, they may have an immediate shortcut to mainstream attention.
-Shobox provided exactly the kind of eclectic show the card foreshadowed, and two men emerged with clear potential. Headliner Jarrell Miller (18-0-1) made surprisingly short work of Fred Kassi (18-6-1), causing Kassi to quit on his stool after 3 rounds. The same Kassi had fought very strongly against recent world title challenger Chris Arreola and ex-Olympian Dominic Breazeale, suggesting that he would provide real resistance for the kickboxer Miller. Instead, Miller charged at Kassi and unloaded with serious offense.
In a more measured, but perhaps more impressive outing, Mason Menard (32-1) proved that a random white guy from backwoods Louisiana can indeed learn to fight at a world class level. His 9th round stoppage win over Bahodir Mamadjonov (19-3) boosted the reputation he earned with the third round KO of Eudy Bernardo earlier this year and suggests he's a lot more than a guy Teddy Atlas berates for having fought soft opposition.
Of course a random Sunday afternoon in August opposite a 41 year old man doesn't sound like a great boxing opportunity--but Errol Spence Jr. (21-0) certainly made the most of it. Spence and PBC received a lead-in of millions of viewers thanks to NBC's Olympic coverage, and made it entertaining enough for them to stick around by blowing out Leonard Bundu (33-2-2) in six rounds. Sure, Spence was a 100-1 favorite. But context can be everything. And in this context, casual fans didn't see an overmatched tomato can. They saw a young star on the verge of greatness.
Bundu, to his credit, came out to fight. In fact, he spent much of the fight on the front foot, throwing shots from sometimes unorthodox angles. You could even argue he took a round.
But this success was illusory--Spence didn't come to win in a risk free fashion, the way Andre Ward had earlier in the month. He was there to land hard power shots and seek an early end to a bout. That requires, on some level, risk. He could have very easily gone out and acted much as Keith Thurman had in his fight with Bundu, carrying the overmatched opponent and arriving at unanimous 12-0 scorecards after an hour or so of sleep inducing action.
Spence, instead, used combination punching and counters to impose himself on a foe he was bound and determined to finish. The KO came in mid-combination with a hard right hand to the head of a crouching Bundu. He leaned back, unconscious, bending his leg uncomfortably backwards. It was a star-making visual perfect for an audience who knew precious little about either man when the broadcast started.
For Spence Jr., the future is now. Like anyone under the PBC umbrella, there are tons of great options. Unfortunately none of them are likely to come to pass. After all, Bundu himself was a grossly overmatched opponent brought in because of his absurdly high IBF ranking. Spence, now the mandatory for Kell Brook, will likely never face the upcoming Golovkin opponent for a litany of reasons. Instead, bouts with Konstantin Ponomarev orJeff Horn for a vacant strap seem much more likely in a fractured division.
-Heather Hardy (18-0) won a close and punch-filled affair with Shelly Vincent (18-1) as the co-feature bout for Spence/Bundu. This was PBC's first attempt at televising a women's boxing match, and they clearly selected wisely by picking two undefeated, skilled, and action-oriented fighters. Whether or not PBC continues the experiment remains to be seen, but with Clarissa Shields exiting the 2016 Olympics with her second gold medal, they may have an immediate shortcut to mainstream attention.
-Shobox provided exactly the kind of eclectic show the card foreshadowed, and two men emerged with clear potential. Headliner Jarrell Miller (18-0-1) made surprisingly short work of Fred Kassi (18-6-1), causing Kassi to quit on his stool after 3 rounds. The same Kassi had fought very strongly against recent world title challenger Chris Arreola and ex-Olympian Dominic Breazeale, suggesting that he would provide real resistance for the kickboxer Miller. Instead, Miller charged at Kassi and unloaded with serious offense.
In a more measured, but perhaps more impressive outing, Mason Menard (32-1) proved that a random white guy from backwoods Louisiana can indeed learn to fight at a world class level. His 9th round stoppage win over Bahodir Mamadjonov (19-3) boosted the reputation he earned with the third round KO of Eudy Bernardo earlier this year and suggests he's a lot more than a guy Teddy Atlas berates for having fought soft opposition.