Errol Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs) continues to make big waves in boxing's welterweight division. The 2012 US Olympian headlined Premier Boxing Champions on NBC in a special Sunday afternoon event in Brooklyn, New York, taking on Italy's Leonard Bundu (33-2-2, 12 KOs) in an IBF title eliminator. The winner would be the mandatory challenger for current champion Kell Brook, who has a middleweight title bout vs. Gennady Golovkin coming on September 10th.
Spence, a native of Long Island, NY who lives and trains in Texas, was the overwhelming favorite against his 41-year-old opponent, whose sole defeat heading into this bout was a decision loss to Keith Thurman. Bundu didn't really have any really notable wins against highly valued welterweights, but was a longtime European Boxing Union champion.
Bundu was aggressive, spirited, tagged Spence with good shots from time to time, but was largely (and predictable) overmatched. Spence's body shots and jabs were on point and his offensive attacks were on point. It was only a matter of time before he'd break Bundu down, and sure enough he broke him. A big left uppercut in the 6th round sent Bundu crashing to the canvas, flat on his back. Remarkably, the referee called it a push, which was wholly incorrect, but hey, welcome to New York! Spence smelled blood and pounced on a very hurt Bundu, smashing him with a right hand that destroyed Bundu. The knockdown did count, and that was the end of the fight.
You can watch the video highlights at the top of the page.
Spence previously knocked out Chris Algieri, whom neither Manny Pacquiao nor Amir Khan could finish (although Pacquiao knocked Algieri down 1 billion times), and Bundu, whom WBA welterweight champion Thurman couldn't finish.
As it stands, Spence is Kell Brook's mandatory challenger, so we should be seeing Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) after Kell is finished fighting GGG. Of course, Brook can just not take the fight and lose his belt. This is boxing, after all. For now, be excited about Spence, because he's exciting to watch and at just 26 years old, has the makings of a future champion.
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