Rather than repeat myself, I?ll just violate professional decorum by directly quoting myself. This is what I wrote for a recent article over at my other gig:
?Boxing fans, myself included, want to believe in magic. That?s why so many were picking Mikey Garcia to beat Errol ?The Truth? Spence Saturday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It wasn?t a dumb pick or a misinformed one, it was simply one where people, again, myself included, felt that Garcia had the smarts and the ability to accomplish the near-impossible.
?By the fifth round of their bout, however, it became very clear that Garcia wasn?t going to be able to produce the magical evening boxing fans live for and wasn?t going to produce one of those moments in history where cold, hard logic falls at the feet of a man?s incalculable will to win.?
Spence fought perfectly for the task at hand and never showed an exploitable weakness that Garcia could use to his advantage. Spence was focused, steady, and consistent throughout the contest and that made his size and strength advantage an insurmountable obstacle for a game Garcia who, to his credit, never stopped trying to make something happen.
Believing in magic is a great thing?and, in a lot of ways, living for those magical logic-defying moments kinda, sorta makes life worth living?but cold, hard truth almost always wins out in the end.
Garcia beating Spence would?ve been one of those magical moments in boxing where what happens goes against what should?ve happened. It would?ve restored some faith in boxing being, truly, a theater of the unexpected?especially in an era where boxing people are always looking to protect their investments and risk vs. reward calculation is as much a part of the game as footwork drills and bag work.
But Garcia DIDN?T defy the odds and couldn?t overcome an Errol Spence who wouldn?t facilitate any sort of magical thinking. And, I guess, there?s something to be said for standing one?s ground and making sure things go as they should go. So, at the risk of making a cringe-inducing boxing writer?s pun?Truth prevailed on Saturday night.
Actually, truth may prevail over magic in more ways than one. Because, as much as we?d like to see Spence use this win to springboard into the bigger fights he should be having, the truth is that he?s probably not one bit closer to getting at any of the other welterweight top dogs.
In a magical world, Saturday?s one-sided victory in front of 47,000 fans in Cowboys Stadium would open the door to legacy-defining fights with Terence Crawford, Keith Thurman, and Manny Pacquiao because, damn it, Spence is a special talent and he deserves his chance to prove it.
But, unless the Spence-Garcia PPV was a smashing financial success that allows him to bring a ton of cash to the negotiating table, the other top welters will wisely insist on more ?marinating? time before stepping into the ring with him. The truth is that, right now, there?s just not enough reward in facing the risk Spence brings. Until there?s a bigger payout involved in fighting him, Thurman, Pacquiao, and also Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia, will conveniently busy themselves with other, less severe, challenges.
And as for a bout with Crawford?something which has the potential to be THE defining fight of the current scene?well, that?s out of the picture completely thanks to Crawford signing on to isolationism as a Top Rank/ESPN house fighter, re-upping with Top Rank bossman Bob Arum last year for a lucrative multi-fight deal.
When you deal in truth, you have to expect the good along with the bad.
Errol Spence showed us that he was, indeed, a legitimate truth-bringer against Mikey Garcia. But, in the wake of that showing, we?re going to have to face another truth?Getting the fights he needs to become the elite-level star he should be will be an uphill battle.
