By Keith Idec
ARLINGTON, Texas – If you have a problem with Errol Spence Jr. fighting a smaller man Saturday night, Spence suggests that you blame Shawn Porter.
Porter is the opponent Spence wanted to face once Porter defeated Danny Garcia to win the WBC welterweight title September 8 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Once Porter later made it clear he intended to make a mandatory title defense next against Yordenis Ugas, Spence accepted the aggressive Garcia’s challenge.
Spence will defend his IBF welterweight title against Garcia on Saturday night at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium. Some fans have criticized this FOX Sports Pay-Per-View main event because Garcia will have to overcome a four-inch height disadvantage and as much as a 15-pound weight differential once the bell rings.
The 29-year-old Spence (24-0, 21 KOs), of nearby DeSoto, understands why Garcia called him out once Garcia decided to move up from the lightweight maximum of 135 pounds to the welterweight limit of 147.
“I feel like, you know, money-wise, legacy-wise, I’m the fight to happen,” Spence said Wednesday during a press conference at AT&T Stadium. “Shawn’s cool, but, I mean, Shawn’s not selling out anything. I mean, he fought in California [last Saturday] and there was nobody there. And Shawn already decided to fight his mandatory.
“Because I wanted to fight Shawn. If Shawn wanted to fight, this Mikey Garcia fight probably wouldn’t have happened. But, you know, he got busy trying to take the easy way out. So, you know, I commend Mikey Garcia for taking this fight. I respect him for that.”
Las Vegas’ Porter (30-2-1, 17 KOs) barely beat Cuba’s Ugas (23-4, 11 KOs) in their 12-round title fight last Saturday night in Carson, California.
Porter edged Ugas by split decision because he won eight rounds on the scorecard of judge Steve Morrow (116-112) and seven rounds according to judge Max DeLuca (115-113). Judge Zachary Young scored nine of the 12 rounds for Ugas (117-111) in a fight FOX aired from Dignity Health Sports Park.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.