• Source: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia

Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia was a professional boxing match contested on March 16, 2019, for the IBF welterweight championship.




Background


Since winning the IBF welterweight title against against Kell Brook, Errol Spence Jr. had made two stoppage defences against Lamont Peterson and Carlos Ocampo. He ranked by both Ring magazine and TBRB as the best welterweight in the world.
After successfully unifying the WBC and IBF lightweight titles in against Robert Easter Jr. July 2018, Mikey Garcia reiterated his desire to fight Spence Jr. by the end of 2018. Spence, who was sat ringside also admitted the fight was too big to turn down and would not be hard to make.
In October 2018, it was reported that negotiations between Spence and Garcia were progressing, with the fight likely to take place in February 2019 on Showtime PPV. On October 30, Garcia vacated his IBF lightweight title and the purse bid for the potential Richard Commey fight was cancelled. On November 13, PBC made an official announcement that the fight between Spence and Garcia would take place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on March 16, 2019, to be broadcast by FOX PPV. This would be the first PPV headliner for both Spence and Garcia. Spence was a 1/4 favourite.




The fight


Spence would completely outclass and dominate Garcia, using his superior reach to constantly land jabs to the head and body from a distance, landing 108 over the course of the fight. Garcia would try to close the distance, but with Spence's weight and height advantage, he was able to completely dominate Garcia even in the pocket. In rounds 8 and 9, Spence landed over 100 punches in two rounds, constantly using lead hooks and uppercuts on the increasing backing up Garcia. Despite being dominated Garcia would show heart and made it to the final bell. All three judges would score every round for Spence with one giving the 11th as a 10–8 round, with scorecards reading 120–107, 120–108 and 120–108.




Aftermath


After the fight, Spence was joined in the ring by eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao. Both stated that they would love to fight each other next. Garcia would express no regrets for taking the fight with Spence saying "In order to leave a lasting impression, to cement your name, you have to go after the biggest challenges and the biggest fights, if I want to protect the record and just fight contenders, make a quick paycheck and keep racking up wins, that's not going to be something to be remembered. I don't want that. I made it a goal to fight the biggest fights and take the biggest challenges so that people can appreciate who I am as a fighter, and that's why I took on this fight. I wanted to establish that legacy. I was trying to be great. That's what a world champion needs to be doing, giving the greatest fights available."




Undercard


Confirmed bouts:




Broadcasting






References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia
• Errol Spence Jr.
• Manny Pacquiao vs. Yordenis Ugás
• Mikey Garcia
• Boxing on Fox
• Terence Crawford
• Pay-per-view
• Boxing career of Manny Pacquiao
• Premier Boxing Champions
• Robert Easter Jr.