Two Become One

The unification showdown between Spence and Porter is a welcome one, writes Elliot Worsell

- Elliot Worsell

WELTERWEIGHT champions Errol Spence Jnr and Shawn Porter have been conversing in a combative language that harks back to the good old days ahead of their 147lb unification fight this Saturday (September 28) at Staples Center, Los Angeles.

As if shooting respectful nods and winks the way of Messrs Leonard, Hearns and Duran, there has been talk of getting the job done inside the distance, inflicting pain, making dents and statements, and of not being truly content unless their opposite number is not only defeated but devastated. More than simply saying all the right things, they are paying homage to the golden age. They are perhaps setting us up for something special.

Twenty-nine-year-old Spence, the favourite, has set the tone. He was in a merciless, vicious mood the night he ripped his IBF welterweight title from England’s Kell Brook in May 2017 and hasn’t let up since. He took Brook’s belt and cracked his eye socket in Sheffield, before then chopping down Lamont Peterson and Carlos Ocampo in subsequent defences of the title.

Only Mikey Garcia, in fact, has been able to hear the final bell during Spence’s reign. Undersized and overwhelmed, Garcia was a champion at three different and lower weights yet had no answer to Spence’s size, range and spite when the pair met in March at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium. He made it to the end but couldn’t make it much of a fight.

The bigger man prevailed, which tends to happen when little meets large, but that doesn’t mean size alone got the job done for Spence. Far from it. In addition to being big and strong, he was also poised, measured and focused for every one of the 36 minutes he and Garcia stayed in punching range. His victory was, above all else, emblematic of his growth as a champion.