ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Boxing devider Unbeaten Spence returns from crash to face Garcia for title

Unbeaten Spence returns from crash to face Garcia for title

Published Dec 5, 2020 12:41 pm
In this file photo taken on September 28, 2019, Referee Jack Reiss is the ring with Erroll Spence Jr. after he defeated Shawn Porter in their IBF & WBC World Welterweight Championship fight at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Undefeated Errol Spence Jr. returns from a serious car crash by defending two world welterweight boxing crowns on Saturday against former world champion Danny Garcia in an all-American clash.

The showdown at the home stadium of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys is a hometown fight for Spence, who was involved in a serious accident in October 2019. He was put on probation for drink driving after being hospitalized in intensive care.

"To have my comeback fight at home means the world to me," Spence said. "I won't let this moment go to waste."

Spence, a 30-year-old southpaw, is 26-0 with 21 knockouts after adding the World Boxing Council crown to his International Boxing Federation title just weeks before the crash with a split-decision win over Shawn Porter.

Garcia, 32, is 36-2 with 21 knockouts and last fought in January, taking a unanimous decision over Ukraine's Ivan Redkach.

His only two losses came in a 2017 split decision WBC title defense against compatriot Keith Thurman and a 2018 unanimous decision to Porter for the vacant WBC crown.

"I'm here for the fight of my life," Garcia said. "Come Saturday night, I will be victorious."

Spence returned to the gym in February with plans to fight Garcia earlier before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

"I've put in a lot of hard work and showed the discipline I had to in order to get back to this position," Spence said. "I'm ready. Everything is on point and back to where it was.

"I have a renewed focus... We're grinding hard every day. That's what got me to being unified champion in the first place."

Spence said he is "sharper than I've ever been" but knows there are questions about his ability that must be answered in the ring.

"I'm going to prove that I'm still the same Errol Spence Jr.," he said. "I know that people have a lot of questions. Those questions need to be answered. I don't think I would have answered them against lighter competition."

Garcia hasn't won a world title bout in nearly five years but isn't concerned at Spence being fancied by oddsmakers.

"I'm not worried about being the underdog. I know that I'm a great champion and a great fighter," Garcia said. "This is a great opportunity. There's no feeling like winning, and winning a world title is the best feeling in the world."

Related Tags

Danny Garcia Errol Spence Jr.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.