That’s all for tonight. Thanks as always for following along with us and be sure to check out the full fight report below.
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Errol Spence wins by split decision over Shawn Porter!
The ringside judges have given their scores: 116-111 to Spence, 115-112 to Porter ... and 116-111 to Spence! Errol Spence Jr has unified the IBF and WBC welterweight titles by a split decision.
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Round 12
More of the same! These guys are brawling in every corner of the ring and giving no quarter! Shots to the head and body. Porter catches Spence with a loaded right hand midway through the 12th that might have hurt Spence, but he looks like he’s taken it OK. Porter continues to press the action, outthrowing and outlanding Spence it seems, though Spence is landing plenty of shots as his opponent lunges in. There’s the bell and we’ll wait on the official cards. By our unofficial tally, Spence’s knockdown was the difference.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 9-10 Porter (Spence 114-113 Porter)
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Porter down in the 11th!
Round 11
Spence lands a crisp right hook early in the round when Porter falls off balance. More two-way action from these warriors, both giving as good as they’re getting. And now Porter goes down! It was a left hand smack on the chin that landed right as Porter was throwing a punch in the final minute! A beautifully thrown punch. Porter beats the count and he’s flailing into the emergency, throwing everything he’s got. But it’s too late in the frame to steal the round back. That might be the difference ... but it sets the table for what should be a cracker of a 12th!
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 10-8 Porter (Spence 105-103 Porter)
Round 10
War! Both guys continue to let their hands go, trading heavy-handed shots on the inside. For three straight minutes. It’s too much to give you the blow by blow. Suffice it to say both are giving as good as they’re getting and it’s another too close to call. Spence just barely edges it on my card but it’s yet another razor-thin choice. Spence has a cut on the corner of his left eye, the first cut of his professional career (but it appears to have come from a head butt). Both men are in truly extraordinary shape; it’s unbelievable they’ve been able to sustain this pace.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 10-9 Porter (Spence 95-95 Porter)
Round 9
Porter is landing the bigger shots early in the eighth, including a flush uppercut that knocks Spence’s sweat into the front row. Porter is keeping this pace up somehow. He’s alternating to the head and body, but Spence is right there firing back. Neither guy is giving an inch. This is some fight, truly. Now Spence is opening up with a devastating left-right combination to the head. How is Porter still upright? Porter just relentless and might have won that round on volume, but Spence landed enough stinging shots in the final round to nick it on my card.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 10-9 Porter (Spence 85-86 Porter)
Round 8
Spence’s face looking more marked up than we’ve ever seen. Spence lands a big left hand that moves Porter backward. Porter deals with it like he’s dealt with every problem so far: throwing back with abandon. Spence is still trying to set traps but Porter can’t even let him get the bait down. Crunching right hand by Spence upstairs. Spence then triples up a jab out of the exchange and follows up with a left, but Porter rolls out of it and lands a heavy right. This is wild! Another difficult round to call! I’ve got to give it to Porter, who seems to be outhustling and outworking the cool-tempered champion before him.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 9-10 Porter (Spence 75-77 Porter)
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Round 7
The punch stats indicate Spence is outlanding Porter to the body by a nearly three-to-one margin, but Porter is certainly landing the flashier shots. Spence is fighting Porter’s fight. Wildly exciting, really. And no idea where this one is headed. Both men look fresh midway through the seventh, which has been a bit of a slower frame for both. Yet it’s Porter who has thrown and landed more. Spence continues to hit Porter right on the beltline with the body shots, but Porter’s trucks do seem to be riding a bit high.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 9-10 Porter (Spence 66-67 Porter)
Round 6
Spence is picking up the pace early in the sixth, getting Porter up against the ropes and opening up to the head and body. Another warning for Spence from referee Jack Reiss, this time for coming over Porter’s back on the clinch. Spence is landing one body shot after another. These must be taking their toll on Porter, who can’t possibly sustain the frenetic pace he established early over 12 rounds. Two minutes in and this is a Spence round. Porter slips inside and lands a nice right hand. Spence just a little more accurate as I see it. I’ll give it to him which brings it to three-all on my card, but at least four of the six have been too close to call. The official cards could be all over the map.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 10-9 Porter (Spence 57-57 Porter)
Round 5
Spence doing better here in the fifth as Porter’s activity has slowed just slightly. Man, Porter is really going for it tonight. The 31-year-old is swarming into the pocket and letting his hands go with abandon, refusing to let Spence sit back and pick him apart with the surgical precision that’s been his calling card. Head-body combination by Porter! But Spence is landing his shots: a crisp left, then another. Another close round but this one to Spence.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 10-9 Porter (Spence 47-48 Porter)
Round 4
Porter is landing more hard shots on Spence early in the fourth, both to the head and body. Porter lands another two shots flush on Spence and he’s backed him up against the ropes! What an effort by Porter tonight. Another big left hook by Porter on Spence’s temple and he’s really beating up on the favorite! This is being fought at Porter’s preferred distance and pace and he’s reaping the rewards. Spence landing as well, doing great work to the body that might not be getting the attention of the crowd or the judges. Spence is sitting on that counter but he hasn’t found a place to detonate it yet due to Porter’s relentless activity. Porter landed 26 punches in that round according to the punch statistics, which is the most ever landed on Spence in a round.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 9-10 Porter (Spence 37-39 Porter)
Round 3
Porter is throwing far more punches and punches in combination, but Spence lands the first good blow of the third with a left to the body. A very nice right to the head upstairs by Spence, followed by a pair of punishing body shots by Spence which are really straying near to if now below the beltline. An all-out action fight, really! Both fighters are really letting their hands go! Now the referee has stopped the action to warn Spence about hitting below the belt. Porter backs up Spence with a combo! Another close round to call, this time due to an excess of two-way action, but we’ll give it to Porter. Very fun fight!
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 9-10 Porter (Spence 28-29 Porter)
Round 2
A crisp counter left by Spence early in the second, but Porter comes back immediately with a shot of his own. A sharp left-hand lead by Spence catches his opponent right on the jaw. Porter catches Spence off balance with a right hand upstairs which sends the Texan sprawling back: it looks worse than it was. Porter is lunging forward with shots upstairs, really letting his hands go. He’s the busier fighter. Spence far more measured and judicious. Must say Porter may be getting the attention of the judges in this round and the first based on activity, regardless of whether the punches are landing.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 9-10 Porter (Spence 19-19 Porter)
Round 1
And we’re off! The fighters circle each other in the center of the ring trading quick probing jabs. Spence holding his ground, Porter darting in and out bouncing on his heels. Porter giving a bit of ground allowing Spence to come forward. Interesting chess match in the opening 90 seconds despite no substantial punces landed. Spence remaining in the pocket as Porter keeps darting around remaining an elusive target. A couple of nice body shots by Spence with about a half-minute to go. A very difficult round to score due to the paucity of landed shots, but I’ll nick it to Spence based on his body work.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Spence 10-9 Porter (Spence 10-9 Porter)
It’s ringwalk time! Shawn Porter makes his way from the tunnel first clad in a thousand-studded gold vest and his familiar megawatt smile. Now it’s Shawn Porter, who makes the long walk to the geographically appropriate LA by Trapboy Freddy in a black and silver robe. Jimmy Lennon Jr takes the microphone and we’re into the announcements.
David Benavidez has just stopped Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round to regain the WBC super middleweight title. Dirrell suffered a terribly unlucky cut midway through the fight before a slow-starting Benavidez closed the show. The undefeated 22-year-old from Phoenix is immediately touted as one of the youngest ever two-time champions at 168lbs, an interesting flex considering he was stripped of his title the first time after testing positive for cocaine, but OK. Now it’s time for the main event with Spence and Porter set to make their ringwalks in the next 10 minutes or so.
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Tale of the tape
Here’s a look at how Spence and Porter match up ahead of tonight’s main event. Porter is roughly a 6-1 underdog in the contest, a number that’s less a slight to his standing as a two-time welterweight champion and more a nod to Spence, who just may be the finest boxer in the world today, pound for pound.
Prelude
Hello and welcome to Los Angeles for tonight’s welterweight unification title fight between Errol Spence Jr and Shawn Porter. Spence, who’s owned the IBF’s version of the 147lbs championship for the last two years, and Porter, who holds the WBC strap, are set to meet at Staples Center to unify two of the four major belts and set the table for even bigger blockbusters in what’s been boxing’s showcase division for the last decade or more.
Right now we’re two fights into tonight’s three-fight pay-per-view undercard. In the opener, Josesito Lopez dropped John Molina Jr twice before stopping him in the eighth round of a scheduled 10-round welterweight bout. And moments ago Mario Barrios outpointed Batyr Akhmedov for the WBA’s vacant regular super lightweight title, whatever that is, coming on strong in the second half of the fight to win by scores of 114-112, 115-111 and 116-111.
That leaves one more prelim before the main event with Anthony Dirrell defending his WBC super middleweight title against David Benavidez, meaning Spence and Porter should walk about an hour from right now, give or take.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Kevin Mitchell’s column on Nigel Benn’s surprise comeback.
