By Bart Barry-
Saturday at Staples Center welterweight titlist Errol “The Truth” Spence split-decisioned “Showtime” Shawn Porter and unified the WBC and IBF titles in an entertaining tilt that exceeded expectations by a margin that was not small. In Saturday’s comain former super middleweight titlist David “La Bandera Roja” Benavidez sliced up WBC beltholder Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell, proving once more how emphatically class tells over time.
If Benavidez indeed proved the most intriguing talent on the card, Spence-Porter nevertheless exceeded expectations at least wildly and maybe more than that.
Here’s the main criterion for such an assertion: When the mainevent began my eyes were fixed on the favorite, but by round 3 my eyes were fixed on the underdog, on whom they stayed for most of the next 27 minutes of combat. That is attributable almost wholly to Porter’s professionalism and savvy but partially, too, to what matchmaking woes rendered Spence so vulnerable to a fellow welterweight who knew how to fight.
For large parts of many rounds Spence didn’t have much of an idea what the hell Porter would do next and was offended by such unpredictability. Most of Spence’s recent foes were predictable or if not predictable so impotent their capricious attacks meant nil to the champ. Not Porter. Showtime Shawn was big enough and committed enough and schooled enough – in the crucible of meaningful competition – to discomfit The Truth quite a lot.
Spence did every technical thing better than Porter and probably hit harder, too, but he did not set the conditions of the confrontation the way weak opposition recently accustomed him to doing. Frankly Porter walked through nearly all Spence’s best shots and was flashed to the canvas by a fully leveraged Spence left in round 11 but never imperiled.
Spence did not look invincible Saturday. Most of us predicted a lopsided, dull affair, and most of us were wrong. No, Spence is not great as we thought; yes, Porter is better than we thought. A blessing upon both men for being professional enough to show us these things.
The comain went about as planned, with a result most predicted, but showed David Benavidez, however-youngest and however-many-timesest champion, remains a work in progress.
Before I go further, let me confess Benavidez enchants me like no other prizefighter currently. He doesn’t know how good he is or how bad he is. He’s cocksure more than confident; he’s pretty sure, where men like Hi-Tech and Bud and Canelo are certain. Sometimes his smile is not congruent to his mood. From his physique to his chief second’s urban-combat-outfitters attire, everything about Benavidez is fragile. To watch him closely is to know the entire Benavidez train could derail at any moment (it may have derailed even as you read this, or just before, or just after, or just now) with a drug test or arrest or worse.
But damn, is he fun to watch. Such nonchalance, such patience, such willingness. He didn’t do things all that technically well against Dirrell, Saturday, in part because he never thought he needed to. He saw Dirrell as a chatty victim from the bell’s first tone. He liked the idea of Dirrell’s courage and loved giving Dirrell a chance to exhibit it: Go on and show us how brave you are, Dog, while I go smirky sadist on your right eye.
Benavidez is a natural because you cannot teach his level of relaxation in a prizefight. If you doubt this, go back and watch videos of Oscar De La Hoya’s greatest hits. Few fighters of the last generation had De La Hoya’s natural gifts, but the dude never learned to relax. There he is, even in his very best moments, jaw bulging like a cheeky walnut. Which is why the worst moments of De La Hoya’s prime were marked by late-rounds fading.
Which is also why Benavidez, a guy with all the upperbody musculature of a prepubescent gamer, doesn’t get tired of punching his statuesque opponents till well after they tire of punching him.
Then there’s Sampson Lewkowicz – whose presence in the Benavidez stable is the main thing allowing a weathered, withered observer like me to dare stake his afición on a project with future heartbreak’s every hallmark. Lewkowicz has had his misses, sure, but he’s also had Manny Pacquiao and Sergio Martinez when no one else wanted them. Benavidez already has tried to break Lewkowicz’s heart a twopair or better, but Lewkowicz was there in Saturday’s ring, one of few Red Flaggers without a vest on, and it made you hope reason might continue to prevail upon Benavidez.
Capitalistic sensibilities, on the other hand, will continue to prevail upon Errol Spence. Saturday’s postfight weirdness proves it. Danny Garcia – seriously? A year removed from his loss to Shawn Porter (yes, that Shawn Porter) Swift came down from grooming One Time to challenge The Truth before our disbelieving eyes. Whose idea was this? is Spence that covetous of Garcia’s WBC silver title?
Spence is an excellent prizefighter who wants to prove it. PBC ought to let him.
Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry
