Errol Spence, Jr. defeated a game Danny Garcia last night at the AT&T Center in Arlington, Texas on Saturday night.
The fight calmed all questions about the unified champ’s return to high-level action after his car crash back in October 2019.
COMEBACK COMPLETE! 😤
Just a year after @ErrolSpenceJr’s near fatal car accident, he returns to beat Danny Garcia by unanimous decision #SpenceGarcia
BUY NOW: https://t.co/mEn4sA91q6 pic.twitter.com/XwXyr7f6hh
— FOX Sports: PBC (@PBConFOX) December 6, 2020
“The moment is surreal,” said Spence. “Coming back from the accident, I feel like I looked pretty good tonight. All training camp I felt good. I told people I didn’t want a tune-up fight. I proved to everyone that I’m the best 147-pound fighter in the world.”
Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) retained his WBC and IBF titles with an impressive performance in his hometown.
Spence- Most Punches Landed in a Fight
345- vs. Mikey Garcia
221- vs. Porter
187- vs. Danny Garcia@PBConFOX #SpenceGarcia— CompuBox (@CompuBox) December 6, 2020
According to CompuBox, he owned a 187 to 117 advantage in punches landed. Using his jab, Spence controlled much of the action, landing 84 of them to slowly damage the left eye of the two-division world champions.
“His jab was rangy and threw my timing off a bit,” said Garcia. “That was the key to the fight. Everything else I feel like I adapted to. The jab was the only thing that was better than expected.”
Garcia (36-3, 21 KOs), stepped out of his comfort zone which is a usual slow start. Garcia rarely controlled the center of the ring, however, he used his supreme counter puncher skills, picking his spots, attempting to avoid the unrelenting attack from Spence.
Be thankful for the struggles you go through. They make you stronger, wiser and humble. Thank you to all my fans who ride with me. I’ll be back. pic.twitter.com/53Q7akxmrD
— Danny 'Swift' Garcia (@DannySwift) December 6, 2020
Garcia had glimpses of greatness with sporadic success utilizing his counter right hook and body shots. However, Spence was the more accurate fighter, connecting on 26% of his shots to 17% for Garcia.
"He was just the better man tonight… No excuses." 🙏@DannySwift gives credit to Errol Spence Jr. following his loss #SpenceGarcia is (Buy PPV: https://t.co/mEn4szRqyy) pic.twitter.com/Cm127Zg5bd
— FOX Sports: PBC (@PBConFOX) December 6, 2020
“Danny Garcia pushed me to the limit, especially in training camp,” said Spence. “I’ve watched him fight since he was an amateur. I knew he was a great champion and I had to be 100% ready.”
The two welterweight elites continued to fight hard and throw big punches to the last bell, but it was Spence out landing Garcia in each of the last six rounds. After 12 rounds, the judges scored the fight 117-111 and 116-112 twice, all for Spence.
"Danny Garcia pushed me to the limit, especially in training camp. I knew I had to be 100 percent ready." 💯@ErrolSpenceJr after his win vs Danny Garcia #SpenceGarcia (Buy PPV: https://t.co/mEn4szRqyy) pic.twitter.com/eFWw47S2Yd
— FOX Sports: PBC (@PBConFOX) December 6, 2020
“I was trying to be more active,” said Garcia. “He did a good job taking away what I wanted to do. Everyone is looking for my left hook, so I thought my right hand could be the difference. I had some success going to the body with it. When two champions fight, one guy is going to be better on the night.”
Terence Crawford is getting a close look at Errol Spence and Danny Garcia 👀
(via @terencecrawford) pic.twitter.com/UtvHMPVnES
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) December 6, 2020
Spence said that he was looking forward to some time off after over a year of recovery. Now the world is wondering whether his next opponent will be the legend Manny Pacquiao or his doppelgänger, Terence Crawford, who was in attendance.
https://twitter.com/pbconfox/status/1335461356695244802?s=21
“I had a little bit of ring rust, but I was in such great shape and took everything seriously in training so that I would not be discouraged by that,” said Spence. “I worked my jab and used my angles because that was my best move.
“It’s been a long year and a half, so I’m going to wind down for a week or two, then get back on it. I proved that I’m back and I’m here to stay.”