Errol Spence, Jr. throttled Chris Van Heerden Friday on Spike. He’s ready for a contender. Now.
The young welterweight took on his best opponent and had almost no trouble. Van Heerden landed a couple body punches in the first few rounds, but before long Spence’s pinpoint power had almost completely closed Van Heerden’s right eye. And then it got worse: He took a point deduction in the 4th for losing his mouthpiece and knocking it away midair. This inspired him toward more aggression, but the aggressing netted him nothing. He was getting his ass kicked thoroughly no matter what he did.
By the end of the 5th, the fight should’ve been stopped. In the the 7th, Van Heerden went down from a combination to the head, and then another to the body, and if not for the referee calling time to fix some tape on Spence’s glove, he might’ve been finished then. Did his corner contemplate stopping it after that? No, because they’re jerks. Van Heerden was putting up an effort, which is one standard for letting a bout continue, but that’s all he had. Somehow he whacked Spence’s mouthpiece out in the 8th, which served only to make Spence even more determined to stop the fight. Finally, the ref stepped in during one of Spence’s unanswered series of blows.
Take a look at the welterweight top 10. Find some names you wouldn’t give Spence a strong chance to beat. It’s probably a short list.
