Porter is a tough matchup for anyone at 147. Spence doesn’t have the best footwork in the game and a come forward fighter who likes to smother and work on the inside was always going to make it awkward at times. The important thing in my opinion was that even under pressure Spence was able to do his own work and ultimately came away with the win.
Not that I like to draw these types of comparisons but I remember seeing an interview with George Chuvalo about Ali and he was talking about how around the time that Ali was dropped by Henry Cooper and picked up a somewhat controversial win over Doug Jones most people were saying that Ali had been exposed. Of course we all know the rest that Ali went on to beat atg’s like Liston, Patterson, Frazier and Foreman and now he’s widely considered amongst a lot of boxing fans to be the best that ever did it.
Spence now has the opportunity to keep working at it and create a legacy of his own and as it stands he’s largely considered to be in the top 2 of a stacked welterweight division so there’s no reason he can’t go down in history. There’s no doubt that whoever does come out on top of today’s welterweight division will be remembered as one of the best of this era and Spence has as good a chance as any to be that man.
I think it’s a stretch to say that Spence has been “exposed” after dropping and beating a 2 time world champion who’s been at the top level for years. It was definitely a tough styles matchup and any weakness of Spence that were on display in that fight has been talked about by his haters at length in the past so I certainly think to say he was “exposed” would be harsh.
I see the fight going similarly to Spence Porter in the sense that Manny will be trying to get inside in spots and make it uncomfortable too. Spence definitely has enough power to at least get Mannys attention, idk about a KO though.
Spence doesn’t have the footwork to keep Manny quiet like Floyd did but I have Spence winning by close decision. Manny may rack up a lot of rounds and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him win, but I’d still probably give it to Spence 7-5, I wouldn’t predict any knockdowns either.
I’m quite indifferent to Spence tbh and I’d favour Crawford to beat him, I really think Crawford is the real deal despite him not having that good a resume for a guy in his position. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone take as much criticism after winning a unification fight against a former 2 time world champion as Spence has. The fight was fantastic to watch imo and I think it’s a shame that Spence is getting roasted quite the way he is. That said I hate the fact that Crawford vs Spence doesn’t seem anywhere close to being made. It’s the best fight at 147 rn for me personally and I can’t see Crawford getting Manny anytime soon either which is a shame, it’s a stacked division and there are some fantastic fights in there to be made, I just hope all that talent doesn’t go to waste as a result of politics.