By Keith Idec
Joey Spencer withstood the toughest test of his brief boxing career Sunday night.
The unbeaten, 19-year-old junior middleweight prospect fended off Akeem Black and fatigue to win a six-round unanimous decision at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Spencer (8-0, 6 KOs), who knocked out his first six pro opponents, went the distance in a second straight fight.
This time, however, Black made matters more difficult for Spencer than Osias Vasquez was able to do April 13 in Minneapolis. Milwaukee’s Black (5-3, 2 KOs) had a lot of success in the fourth round and made an exhausted Spencer work for his victory during the final two rounds.
Spencer wasn’t particularly impressive in the second half of this fight, but he still won by the same score, 59-55, on all three scorecards.
By the fifth round, Spencer appeared completely spent. His punches had lost some snap by then, but he unloaded several hard body shots on Black in the second half of the fifth.
Spencer got hit with a few flush punches during the fourth round, including a right uppercut by Black. Spencer, whose nose was bloodied during that fourth round, hit Black with a solid right hand toward the end of it.
Spencer slipped and slid from Black’s punches throughout the third round. A counter right hand by Spencer backed up Black just after the midway mark of the third.
Spencer lunged in and landed a hard right hand at the 1:15 mark of the second round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
