Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia

Last updated
Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia
Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia.jpg
DateMarch 16, 2019
Venue AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, U.S.
Title(s) on the line IBF welterweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Errol Spence Jr. Mikey Garcia
Nickname "The Truth"
Hometown Dallas, Texas, U.S. Ventura, California, U.S.
Purse $3,000,000 $3,000,000
Pre-fight record 24–0 (21 KO) 39–0 (30 KO)
Age 29 years 31 years, 3 months
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Weight146+14 lb (66 kg)145+12 lb (66 kg)
Style Southpaw Orthodox
Recognition IBF
Welterweight Champion
The Ring/TBRB
No. 1 Ranked Welterweight
The Ring No. 10 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
WBC
Lightweight Champion
The Ring/TBRB
No. 2 Ranked Lightweight
The Ring No. 7 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
4-division world champion
Result
Spence defeated Garcia by unanimous decision

Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia was a professional boxing match contested on March 16, 2019, for the IBF welterweight championship. [1]

Contents

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. [2] [3] [4]

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. [5] On October 30, Garcia vacated his IBF lightweight title and the purse bid for the potential Richard Commey fight was cancelled. [6] 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. [7] [8] [9] [10] This would be the first PPV headliner for both Spence and Garcia. Spence was a 1/4 favourite. [11]

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. [12] [13] [14]

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. [15] [16] [17] 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." [18]

Reception

A crowd of 47,525 attended the event, generating a live gate of $5 million. According to ESPN, FOX's first PPV sold over 360,000 buys, possibly up to 380,000 buys, generating a minimum $27 million domestically. It was considered a success considering PBC's recent PPV's and the fact it was a PPV debut for both boxers. [19] Garcia and Spence had a base purse of $3 million, up to $8 million based on PPV sales. [20]

Undercard

Confirmed bouts: [21] [22] [23]

WinnerLoserWeight division/title belt(s) disputedResult
Flag of the United States.svg José Valenzuela Flag of Puerto Rico.svg Christian VelezLightweight (4 rounds)4th round KO
PPV bouts
Flag of the United States.svg David Benavidez Flag of the United States.svg J'Leon Love Super middleweight (10 rounds)2nd round KO
Flag of Mexico.svg Lindolfo Delgado Flag of the United States.svg James RoachLight Welterweight (6 rounds)1st round KO
Flag of Mexico.svg Luis Nery Flag of Puerto Rico.svg McJoe Arroyo Bantamweight (10 rounds)4th round RTD
Flag of the United States.svg Chris Arreola Flag of the United States.svg Jean-Pierre Augustin Heavyweight (10 rounds)3rd round TKO
Preliminary bouts
Flag of the United States.svg Charles Martin Flag of the United States.svg Gregory CorbinHeavyweight (10 rounds)8th round DQ
Flag of Mexico.svg Fernando Garcia Flag of Colombia.svg Marlon OleaSuper Bantamweight (8 rounds)5th round KO
Flag of the United States.svg Amon Rashidi Flag of the United States.svg Gabriel GutierrezLight Welterweight (6 rounds)6th round TKO
Flag of the United States.svg Marsellos Wilder Flag of Mexico.svg Mark SanchezCruiserweight (4 rounds)No contest
Flag of the United States.svg Jesse Rodriguez Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Rauf AghayevFlyweight (8 rounds)3rd round TKO
Flag of the United States.svg Thomas Hill Flag of the United States.svg Limberth PonceLight Middleweight (6 rounds)Split decision
Flag of the United States.svg Aaron Morales Flag of the United States.svg Fernando RoblesBantamweight (6 rounds)Unanimous decision
Flag of the United States.svg Adrian Taylor Flag of the United States.svg William DeetsCruiserweight (4 rounds)Unanimous decision
Flag of the United States.svg Luis Coria Flag of Mexico.svg Omar GarciaLightweight (6 rounds)2nd round TKO
Flag of the United States.svg Burley Brooks Flag of the United States.svg Randy MastSuper middleweight (4 rounds)1st round TKO
Flag of the United States.svg Robert Rodriguez Flag of the United States.svg Fernando Ibarra De AndaSuper Flyweight (4 rounds)Unanimous decision

Broadcasting

CountryBroadcaster
Flag of Panama.svg  Panama Telemetro
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom ITV
Flag of the United States.svg  United States FOX Sports

References

  1. "Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  2. "Garcia unifies lightweight belts, wants Spence". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  3. "Errol Spence: Mikey Garcia is The Best Fight Available For Me". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  4. "Garcia ready to move up to take on Spence". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  5. "Garcia-Commey Not Next; Garcia-Spence Negotiations Progressing". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  6. "Mikey Garcia Gives Up IBF; IBF To Order Commey-Chaniev". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  7. "Errol Spence Jr v Mikey Garcia: IBF world welterweight title bout set for March". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  8. "Spence-Garcia To Be Announced As FOX PPV March 16". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  9. "Spence-Garcia bout to headline March 16 card". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  10. "Boxing World Reacts To Errol Spence vs Mikey Garcia Super Fight". Boxing News and Views. 2018-11-14. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  11. Action Network Staff (16 March 2019). "Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia Odds, Preview: One of the Boxing's Best Is a 3-1 Underdog". actionnetwork.com. Action Network. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  12. Nate Loop (17 March 2017). "Errol Spence Jr. Dominates Mikey Garcia via Decision, Retains Welterweight Title". bleacherreport.com. Bleacher Report. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  13. Bryan Armen Graham (17 March 2019). "Errol Spence Jr retains title with whitewash of Mikey Garcia – as it happened". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  14. Tony Mogan (17 March 2019). "Errol Spence Jr dominates Mikey Garcia to retain IBF welterweight title". The London Standard. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  15. Christ, Scott (2019-03-17). "Errol Spence Jr shuts out Mikey Garcia, wants Pacquiao next". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  16. Associated Press (17 March 2019). "Errol Spence Jr overwhelms Mikey Garcia in pound-for-pound showdown". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  17. Lance Pugmire (17 March 2019). "Errol Spence Jr.'s domination of Mikey Garcia could be the start of a new era in boxing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  18. Dan Rafael (18 March 2019). "Spence is too much for him to handle, but Garcia shows big heart". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  19. "Source: Spence-Garcia tops 360,000 PPV buys". ESPN.com. 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
  20. "Aftermath: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia". Max Boxing. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
  21. "BoxRec - event".
  22. PBC ON FOX (16 March 2019). "Errol Spence Jr. vs Mikey Garcia Prelims Part I". youtube.com. Youtube. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  23. PBC ON FOX (16 March 2019). "Errol Spence Jr. vs Mikey Garcia Prelims Part II". youtube.com. Youtube. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
Preceded by Errol Spence Jr.'s bouts
16 March 2019
Succeeded by
Preceded by Mikey Garcia's bouts
16 March 2019
Succeeded by