By: Sean Crose
“Undefeated unified welterweight world champion Errol “The Truth” Spence, Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs) returns to defend his titles against two-division world champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) in one of the most anticipated boxing matches of the year headlining a FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.” So claimed Premiere Boxing Champions in a Saturday evening press release.
The Covid-19 pandemic has kept many top fighters out of action. Spence and Garcia have been no exception. The 26-0 Spence was last seen besting another Garcia in 2019. That’s when he topped the weight skipping Mikey Garcia in one sided fashion. Spence has kept in the news, however, by virtue of a horrible car crash he miraculously survived last autumn. Before then, however, the Texan was on a huge ride to the top. Aside from Mikey Garcia, the standout earned wins against Chris Algieri, Kell Brook, and Shawn Porter.
Garcia, whose last battle was a January win over Ivan Redkach, has fought some of the biggest names the fight game has seen in the past ten years. Amir Khan, Erik Morales Zab Judah, Lucas Matthysse and Paulie Malignaggi have all been bested by the Philly native. Even Garcia’s losses have been noteworthy. He may have dropped decisions to Keith Thurman and to Porter, but both those fights were close and exciting to watch. At thirty-two years of age, Garcia is still one of the top names in the welterweight division.
Spence, on the other hand, is considered one of the five biggest talents in the sport. It’s been long wished that the 30 year old would face fellow welterweight kingpin Terence Crawford, although promotional conflicts make the possibility of such a fight challenging. Manny Pacquiao has been considered a possible opponent for both Spence and Garcia. For now, however, the two men will be facing each other. Although Spence will most likely be the favorite, it will be hard to write off the skilled Garcia, especially when it’s unclear how recent events will have effected Spence.
The Spence-Garcia fight will be the first major boxing event in months. For it’s been since last winter that a major card went down. That was in February, when Tyson Fury bested Deontay Wilder in the rematch of their controversial 2018 matchup. Since that time, Covid-19 has largely put the sport on halt, though entertaining smaller cards have been making the rounds throughout the summer.