Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | March 16, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | IBF welterweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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]
Background
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 José Valenzuela
|
 Christian Velez
|
Lightweight (4 rounds) | 4th round KO |
| PPV bouts | |||
| David Benavidez
|
J'Leon Love
|
Super middleweight (10 rounds) | 2nd round KO |
 Lindolfo Delgado
|
James Roach
|
Light Welterweight (6 rounds) | 1st round KO |
| Luis Nery
|
McJoe Arroyo
|
Bantamweight (10 rounds) | 4th round RTD |
| Chris Arreola
|
Jean-Pierre Augustin
|
Heavyweight (10 rounds) | 3rd round TKO |
| Preliminary bouts | |||
| Charles Martin
|
Gregory Corbin
|
Heavyweight (10 rounds) | 8th round DQ |
| Fernando Garcia
|
 Marlon Olea
|
Super Bantamweight (8 rounds) | 5th round KO |
| Amon Rashidi
|
Gabriel Gutierrez
|
Light Welterweight (6 rounds) | 6th round TKO |
| Marsellos Wilder
|
Mark Sanchez
|
Cruiserweight (4 rounds) | No contest |
| Jesse Rodriguez
|
 Rauf Aghayev
|
Flyweight (8 rounds) | 3rd round TKO |
| Thomas Hill
|
Limberth Ponce
|
Light Middleweight (6 rounds) | Split decision |
| Aaron Morales
|
Fernando Robles
|
Bantamweight (6 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Adrian Taylor
|
William Deets
|
Cruiserweight (4 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Luis Coria
|
Omar Garcia
|
Lightweight (6 rounds) | 2nd round TKO |
| Burley Brooks
|
Randy Mast
|
Super middleweight (4 rounds) | 1st round TKO |
| Robert Rodriguez
|
Fernando Ibarra De Anda
|
Super Flyweight (4 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
Broadcasting
[edit]| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Panama |
Telemetro |
 United Kingdom |
ITV |
| United States |
FOX Sports |
References
[edit]- ^ "Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ "Garcia unifies lightweight belts, wants Spence". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
- ^ "Errol Spence: Mikey Garcia is The Best Fight Available For Me". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
- ^ "Garcia ready to move up to take on Spence". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
- ^ "Garcia-Commey Not Next; Garcia-Spence Negotiations Progressing". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "Mikey Garcia Gives Up IBF; IBF To Order Commey-Chaniev". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "Errol Spence Jr v Mikey Garcia: IBF world welterweight title bout set for March". bbc.co.uk. BBC. November 14, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ "Spence-Garcia To Be Announced As FOX PPV March 16". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
- ^ "Spence-Garcia bout to headline March 16 card". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
- ^ "Boxing World Reacts To Errol Spence vs Mikey Garcia Super Fight". Boxing News and Views. November 14, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
- ^ Action Network Staff (March 16, 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 January 22, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ Nate Loop (March 17, 2017). "Errol Spence Jr. Dominates Mikey Garcia via Decision, Retains Welterweight Title". bleacherreport.com. Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ Bryan Armen Graham (March 17, 2019). "Errol Spence Jr retains title with whitewash of Mikey Garcia – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ Tony Mogan (March 17, 2019). "Errol Spence Jr dominates Mikey Garcia to retain IBF welterweight title". The London Standard. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ Christ, Scott (March 17, 2019). "Errol Spence Jr shuts out Mikey Garcia, wants Pacquiao next". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
- ^ "Errol Spence Jr overwhelms Mikey Garcia in pound-for-pound showdown". The Guardian. Associated Press. March 17, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ Lance Pugmire (March 17, 2019). "Errol Spence Jr.'s domination of Mikey Garcia could be the start of a new era in boxing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ Dan Rafael (March 18, 2019). "Spence is too much for him to handle, but Garcia shows big heart". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ "Source: Spence-Garcia tops 360,000 PPV buys". ESPN.com. March 27, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
- ^ "Aftermath: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia". Max Boxing. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
- ^ "BoxRec - event".
- ^ PBC ON FOX (March 16, 2019). "Errol Spence Jr. vs Mikey Garcia Prelims Part I". youtube.com. Youtube. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
- ^ PBC ON FOX (March 16, 2019). "Errol Spence Jr. vs Mikey Garcia Prelims Part II". youtube.com. Youtube. Retrieved February 12, 2025.