Undefeated Spence wins lopsided decision over Garcia to retain welterweight title

His quick rise to elite fighter was done without a signature victory. For Errol Spence Jr., winning a welterweight title and two subsequent defenses still didn’t result in the performance that validated his spot among the best fighters in the sport.

Now, Spence Jr. can confirm he belongs among the short list of boxing supremacy following his dominant victory late Saturday.

Spence finally landed the opponent with the similar pedigree and in a high profile setting. The reigning welterweight champion won a lopsided unanimous decision over Mikey Garcia before 47,525 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“When this fight was made, they were saying he had faster feet, he was smarter than me, he was a better fundamental fighter than me,” Spence said of Garcia in a post-fight interview. “I just wanted to prove that I had a different arsenal.”

A four-division world champion, Garcia believed he had built enough of a resume to make the radical leap from lightweight champion to challenge Spence. Like Spence, Garcia reached pound-for-pound elite. As a result, Saturday’s bout earned pay-per-view distinction.

But Garcia quickly learned that the weight disparity and Spence’s skills proved too daunting a task.

Spence (25-0) outclassed Garcia with superior boxing throughout the 12-round distance. He set the pace with a solid right jab to the head that opened additional combinations to the head and body. Garcia (39-1) attempted to thwart Spence’s height and reach advantage by pressing the action and keeping the fight at short range. But Spence adeptly kept Garcia at his preferred reach and continued to frustrate him with lefts and rights to the head and rights to the body.

The punishment reached a point that Garcia’s trainer and brother, Robert Garcia, considered stopping the bout before the start of the 10th round but was talked out of it by the fighter.

With Garcia intent on lasting the distance, the foregone conclusion was soundly confirmed by all three judges who scored the bout for Spence, 120-108 (twice) and 120-107.

“I just showed a different type of boxing IQ that a lot of people hadn’t seen from me,” said Spence, who retained his International Boxing Federation belt with the victory.

“I had the size advantage and I had the reach so why not use my jab and take something away from him that he likes to do. I give Mikey Garcia all the credit for taking this fight and giving me the opportunity.”

Unable to capture a fifth division title, Garcia is expected to return to the lightweight division. The World Boxing Council still recognizes Garcia as its titleholder.

“It was a huge fight, it was a great show, unfortunately things didn’t go out the way we planned,” Garcia said. “I went 12 rounds with the best welterweight. It’s a learning experience. He’s a good fighter.”

Despite Spence’s dominance, Garcia felt there was no reason to stop the fight before the final bell.

“I never thought I’d be too hurt to stop this fight, I was fine,” Garcia said. “He was on top of me. He wouldn’t back off and my brother and my dad were concerned that I might be getting hit too much. But a lot of times I was actually blocking a lot of the punches. I never felt his punches were hurting me to possibly knock me out so that’s why I told my brother that I can still do this.”

AROUND THE RING

Plantation resident Xander Zayas, whose decorated amateur career is highlighted by multiple state and national championships, recently announced he will turn professional and has signed a promotional contract with Top Rank. Zayas, 16, trains at the Sweatbox Boxing and Fitness Gym in Davie and won eight tournaments in the 152-pound division last year.

Coming up

Saturday (10 p.m., ESPN): Jesse Magdaleno vs. Rico Ramos, 10, featherweights.

Sunday (8 p.m., FS1): Lamont Peterson vs. Sergey Lipinets, 12, welterweights.