If you didn’t catch Saturday’s ruthless breakout win for Errol Spence Jr, then here is your chance to check out the fireworks. Welterweight climber and red-hot prospect Spence Jr showed zero respect to Chris Algieri, a gritty, capable challenger with plenty of experience at top level. Catch the PBC on NBC Highlights below:
Spence knocked down Algieri three times during their short-lived affair, becoming the first man to stop Algieri after the referee intervened in the 5th round. Spence now adds muscle to his unblemished slate, standing at 20 wins, 16 knockouts, while Algieri falls to 21 wins, 3 defeats, 8 knockouts. Obviously bigger challenges await Spence in the form of Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and co, but for now he looks to be the genuine article.
This brutal performance is significant for several reasons, mostly because Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan were unable to take out Algieri in their respective fights. Pacquiao knocked down Algieri six times en route to landing a shutout decision in 2014, while Khan was made to work harder than expected for his decision victory last May.
In the surprisingly competitive Spence Jr vs Algieri chief support, Krzysztof Glowacki and Steve Cunningham produced an intriguing Cruiserweight championship. Glowacki soundly beat Cunningham on the cards thanks to four knockdowns, but the resilient Cunningham made a big enough dent on the scorecards to hold his head high in defeat. Glowacki’s WBO title will now return back to Poland. Catch the Highlights below:
Cunningham undoubtedly looks a finer specimen at Cruiser, even now at 39, than he has for a long time during his unremarkable Heavyweight campaign over the past few years. Glowacki impressed with his power, but will likely face some criticism after failing to end the night earlier against an aging veteran like Cunningham.
To be fair, it’s unlikely even Glowacki had expected to encounter such a tough, driven fighter in Cunningham that night. Cunningham is one of the only Cruisers in existence who could survive four hard knockdowns and somehow hear the final bell, so it would seem unjust to rip on Glowacki too much – especially after he scored four knockdowns. Seriously…how many 200-pound fighters could recover from that kind of punishment?
What do you make of Spence Jr vs Algieri? Is it a foregone conclusion that Spence will rule supreme at Welterweight in the near future? Or is all this ‘Spence Fever’ all a little premature? And, is he a ‘big’ enough Welter to hang with physically larger, notably domineering pugilists like Shawn Porter and Kell Brook?
