Spence Jr climbing to the top 3 -Top boxer with J'can roots wins big
Published:Sunday | April 17, 2016 | 12:00 AMLeroy Brown
Errol Spence Jr., a 26-year old boxer with Jamaica roots, considered to be one of the brightest prospects for a world welterweight title, saw his stocks soar last Saturday night.
Spence Jr scored a sensational fifth round knockout victory over well-known contender Chris Algieri in a fight that took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and was broadcast worldwide by NBC as part of their Premier Boxing Series. The fight was scheduled for 10 rounds.
The fighter, whose father Errol Spence Sr. hails from Hanover, was born in New York and lives in Texas. He is ranked No. 2 by the International Boxing Federation( IBF), No. 6 by the( WBC) and No. 7 by the World Boxing Association (WBA). He will now move up in the rankings.
Spence boasts a 20-0 record with 17 knockouts and looked great as he dismantled Algeiri, who now has a 21-3 record, and was knocked out for the first time, although he has fought the likes of Manny Pacguiao in 2014 and Amir Khan in 2015.
Spence was impressive from the opening bell and kept the pressure on Algieri from the start. He attacked his opponent primarily with body shots, but from time to time he switched swiftly to the head and found him wide open. He floored him with a sharp left hook to the head in round four and then in similar manner twice in the fifth round. On the second occasion, Algieri landed heavily on the canvas and seeing that he was badly hurt, the referee did not even bother to pick up the count from the timekeeper.
It was a sweet victory for Spence, who said afterwards that he believed from the start that he would win by knockout, but expected it to be later in the fight, as his opponent is an accomplished fighter. He immediately threw out a challenge to the IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook, saying "let's get it on Kell, I am ready for anybody."
Also on the card was Marcus Browne, 18-0, another boxer with Jamaican ties, who fought a light heavyweight contest against Radivoje Kalejdzic 20-1 and won by split decision.