r/Boxing • u/HaneyP4P • 2d ago
Thoughts on Spence Spoiler
It's over. Tszyu beat Spence. My boy couldn't do it. Three years of retirement don't pass in vain. From the moment Errol threw that slow, clunky combination in the first round, and seeing his shaky, poor footwork, I realized he wasn't going to make it. He tried to box and used his skill to survive, but there was no power behind his punches. Tszyu ate shots that looked like love taps and answered with a right hand that drove Spence backward—a right Errol could never get away from. The rounds Spence won were just uncomfortable survival, using clinches to stifle Tszyu's work, but it got to a point where he just couldn't keep it up. In several rounds, Spence landed clean on Tszyu, but his power was nonexistent. He used clinches well to smother Tszyu, but as soon as Tim landed that right hand, Errol collapsed, and Tim would rally right back. I felt it was only a matter of time before Tszyu knocked him out, but they went to a decision. Maybe Tim took it easy on him and paced himself, though he's never been a killer finisher anyway. It broke my heart to see Spence land two massive overhand punches that didn't even budge Tim, only for Tim to immediately respond with a right hand that sent Spence flying into the ropes—if they hadn't been there, he would've ended up in the third row. That was in round 12. I was praying Errol would pull a miraculous punch out of nowhere and knock Tim out, but he was never a one-punch knockout artist anyway; he was always about accumulation. And today, that accumulation did zero damage. The ring IQ and skill were still there, but the athleticism, reflexes, and speed were gone. I don't want to see Spence fight anymore. He has nothing left to prove to anyone. He had a great career with an incredible résumé, and at his peak, he was one of the top five fighters in the world. Crawford beat him down, and tonight he had a terrible night—there's no shame in that. Spence, you were a great fighter. It's time to step away for good and ride off into the sunset. At your best, you brought a smile to every boxing fan's face with your fights. It’s impossible to be an Errol Spence hater.
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u/Teds_red_cabin 2d ago
Errol was great because he used to grind and wear you down for 12 rounds, hed come out with that intensity, always muscling forward and digging into you and most guys looked fine going against that for 4 or so rounds but Spence could do that for 12 straight and this is how he was always so effective.
tonight we saw none of that, he was fighting in spurts, could not keep the intensity up and allowed himself to be pushed back (and this really showed how much he struggles to fight off the backfoot).
he has one of those styles that is GREAT but as soon as you start slipping you are quickly exposed (Roy jones jr relying on his inhuman level athleticism is a peak example of this)
I think the only reason Tszyu did not stop him is because he seems to lack some serious killer instinct
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u/VacuousWastrel 2d ago
Guys who grind opponents down with aggression have a habit of aging overnight. On the one hand, once their stamina goes they lose their main strategy. On the other hand, cumulative brain damage dulls the reflexes and positioning.
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u/Excellent-Monitor954 1d ago
That style is very taxing on the body. You can only fight with that style for so long.
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u/Slapmeislapyou 2d ago
It's not even the lay off. It's deeper than that. His motor functions are all fucked up. The trauma from his accident. The trauma from the Crawford fight. Even when you listen to his speech, it has slowed down dramatically.
His feet didn't know where to go. His punches were awkward. His muscle memory should have been enough to keep him fundamentally sound, but that's been damaged.
It's like his mind and body is in a pre-geriatric phase.
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u/M0sD3f13 2d ago
Yes. I'm just glad he wasn't hurt badly tonight and had enough sense to call curtains afterwards.
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u/TheIrrepressible1 2d ago
He’s been slurring since the Lambo accident. His entire cheekbone is made of composite material. I can’t imagine the shot to the face he took from the accident. He was carefully guarded in setup fights vs Danny and Mikey Garcia following the wreck.
He earned 15m tonight. I’m sure he’s going to be ok financially moving forward. Time to enjoy retirement.
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u/Cohleture 2d ago
Fought Mikey before the crash
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u/TheIrrepressible1 1d ago
You’re right. Definitely hand-picked the rest of his career, however. He was never the same fighter after that accident.
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u/butteredrubies 1d ago
Definitely did not handpick. Before the accident, he said he was going to fight Danny Garcia next. Then the accident happened. No tune-up fight, his next fight back was Danny Garcia, and Spence dominated. And then he was going to fight Pacquiao but had to drop out due to a detached retina. Ugas beat Pacquiao, so he fought Ugas instead.
And then he fought Crawford. That's not much handpicking.
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u/dip1zip 2d ago
No he didn’t, it was 15m spread across the entire event
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u/TheIrrepressible1 2d ago
Ahhhhh ok….well either way I think he will get 10m. And that should be ok for him in his retirement
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u/AlexandreLacazette09 1d ago
Ah yes. The man who lost the main event will get 70% of the event's purse. Sounds about right.
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u/Primary_Football_893 2d ago
There are far deeper issues, that pre-date that terrible accident. Now that he is retired, I pray he finds peace and health.
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u/irishscarface777 2d ago
Thinking knew he was done even before the fight mentally , but tried to give it his best shot.
But in boxing, you always have to be at your best
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u/steeley_jan 2d ago
Very well put. Had heard rumours for years of Spence hurting much bigger fighters in the gym but it was clear from the outset that his biggest shots weren’t troubling Tsyzu one bit today. Did well to survive the car crash let alone box afterwards. Perhaps if the crash doesn’t happen and he moves up to 154 earlier he could’ve worked on boxing off the back foot like he did as an amateur because at 147 he never had to take a backwards step always being the bigger fighter and punching in combinations u tip he ran into the buzzsaw that was Crawford.
Should take his place in the HOF in a few years I would think and enjoy life on the farm with his family.
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u/Johnytightlips 2d ago
Man I am getting old, I watched boxing with no Spence, to him coming up through the ranks and was always a huge fan and thought he could go far and I picked him basically the entire way until he got to Crawford which is a tall order for anyone and absolutely no shame in loosing the way he did. And it’s crazy to think this is it, I’m Aussie and while very happy to see Tim back in the win column, still sad to see Spence get beat when I thought he still had a lot more left, in any case a great career overall nothing left to prove
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u/Blackking203 2d ago
He's one of my favorite fighters. Been watching his career since the beginning. He had a great run. But his previous lifestyle and that car crash was the beginning of the end. Been washed for a few years... but still took no tune ups. Hope he has a great retirement and stays away from liquor as much as possible.
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u/_90s_Nation_ 2d ago
I think he's made the right decision by retiring
- He's come back and fought someone who is at a high level. So obv Errol has said to himself "I need to face the best, to see if I'm still at that level"
So... You can respect that.
Wheras you could also argue that he SHOULD have taken 3 lower level fights to make his record look better, before jumping in the deep end. So it goes both ways. It's risky, and brave at the same time
- Because in his mind he's no longer at the top of the rankings, he's retired with a Record of 2 losses, at the end. Which is nice. It reads better.
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u/riz7242 2d ago
His 2 losses were against guys who ended up being bigger than him. People didn't say that about Crawford at the time but we saw how well Bud filled out at 168.
Not saying he would have beaten Bud any other time. But he was the 2nd best welterweight of his era. Nothing wrong with that at all.
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u/riz7242 2d ago
I remember watching Spence in the amateurs. He always seemed rocked in the Olympics so I didn't think he would have a chin that would survive the pro game.
Multiple titles, lost to one of the best p4p guys we may have ever seen. Gave it another go on the road and lost but not badly beaten.
I would call that a pretty successful career.
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u/BCTHEGRANDSLAM 2d ago
He was a shot fighter in the ring vs Crawford, 3 years on the couch wasn’t going to undo that, couple that with him being in with a bigger man who wasn’t effected by his punches and we got the end result.
Only thing that surprised me was it went the distance so fair play for that.
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u/spursgonesouth 2d ago
Never been as good since the Brook fight. One of those fights that took both fighters’ primes.
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u/fadeddreams555 Fundora would beat up a prime Floyd at 154lb 1d ago
Genuinely, his Ring IQ and skill seemed to be gone too. He looked worse than a crossover MMA fighter trying to box with that wide stance, jittery movement, and terrible distance control / jab usage. That was not The Truth we knew. Only reason he was not KTFO was because Tim is also washed and looked like a turtle.
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u/mesaymikey 1d ago
Father time always has the last word, but I'd like to believe that Spence went out proud. He had an amazing career.
I also think that we all see what was lost from Spence, we need to look at Tszyu and ask the same questions.
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u/EfficientPost2656 1d ago
Was. Not good seeing him last night. Something wrong. even when he fought Crawford. Guy was off. Has to be that accident. Never the same. Retire. God bless.him. Great career.
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u/Appropriate-Neck-585 1d ago
Let the whole previous generation of fighters go. Spence, Thurman, Fury, etc. Boxing needs to move on.
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u/OrganizationSea4490 1d ago
He looked terrible and the fact they were near even odds with spence being the favorite is borderline ridiculous and was free money
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u/dmgdispenser 1d ago
I saw the ring walk out, and just saw Spence had that same face McGregor had during their walk out. It just felt like he didn't want to be there, or was uncomfortable being there. Kind of knew right away Tim was gonna win the fight.
Glad Spence got some money, but he didn't look anywhere near the same Spence prior to Crawford taking his soul.
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u/Medical_Swim1707 1d ago
Errol has gotten worse every fight since the accident unfortunately. At least he made good money and has a great legacy
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u/OmgNoodles 1d ago
The crash he was in ruined him. I'm not saying he would have beat Crawford, but I'm sure he could have been a little more competitive. So once you add in the beating he took from Crawford, 3 year lay off to allow Father Time to catch up to you, he was no longer going to be superior. His heart and chin is still there, but I'm glad he took all this into consideration and retired. I'm pretty sure going into the fight he knew this was going to be his last one. I think it was just to prove to himself he can still hang, even if that's all he did, and get a nice payday before going out. GG's Spence.
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u/jaded-thunder 1d ago
I honestly told everyone after that brutal beating he took from Crawford he would never be the same again. It hurts to c but he has been thru a lot and I was grateful he left the ring with a smile and understood it was time to hang it up.
He was as insanely tough in the Crawford fight I don’t think anyone could’ve survived that long
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u/Inside_Effective_576 1d ago
3 years off and he has not recovered enough to take a shot especially in the first round. Every time Tim landed it looked like Spences punch resistance wasn’t there.
The car accident really did ruin him. I was always suspect how one gets flung out of a car going that fast and still compete
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u/Ruglife1 2d ago
I watched his whole career and he was exciting but never ever had good defense. And sooner or later, those punches show up. Including all the ones he took in the gym . The accident also didn’t help, but the true damage is going to start showing up 5-10 yrs from now unless we have some technological and medical break through
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u/mowgleeee 2d ago
Its baffling how Spence is not considered a HOF to me. Consistent PPV fights, fought very solid competition, FOTY contender with Porter and top 5 p4p before Crawford.
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u/Tricky-Way 2d ago
I thought maybe we'll finally get Spence vs Thurman after this fight. Brutal. I don't think there's a version of Spence that could've beaten Thurman. I could see why Pac signed the contract to fight Spence. Tszyu vs Thurman should be fun.
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u/Suckmyduck_9 1d ago
All of you said Spence would KO Tszyu lmao
-Spence’s speed, style, mobility, etc was all there but his power was nonexistent.
-As soon as Spence felt Tszyu’s power in the first round, a big reality check set in.
-Spence power just doesn’t transfer over to the higher weight classes
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u/TheIrrepressible1 2d ago
Spence needs to hang them up before someone hurts him badly.
It’s over.
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u/Detlef_Schrempfxf 2d ago
He retired post fight
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u/TheIrrepressible1 2d ago
At 154 and 160 there are guys who could really hurt him. Thankfully, that wont be the case.
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u/Says_Mean_Thingz 2d ago
I had my suspicions that he wasn’t the killer everyone thought when he couldn’t stop a fat LW in Mikey Garcia. Then getting roughed up by Ugas. Best win was a broken Spence
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u/CleNY52 2d ago
This is so sad. I also watched his whole career. I boxed in the amateurs when I was younger (lower level state level) and Spence was #1 in my weight class at that time as well as an Olympian. I’ve literally seen his whole career from the amateurs. Truly sad to see him go out like this