Let's get something out of the way right here and now. Errol Spence is a talented dude. A really talented dude. Watching his match against Emmanuel Vargas with the sound off gives you some indication of just how skilled and nuanced a fighter the man truly is.
He's slick, powerful and fluid. He can hit hard and can get out of the way easily. Truly the man is a force to be reckoned with. If I'm not mistaken, Freddie Roach himself declared Spence to be a boxer on the rise. The fact that the sometimes prickly Roach doesn't train the Texan should tell you all you need to know here.
Yet I've become a bit wary of The Great Boxing Hype Machine lately, especially after seeing Adrien Broner drop another fight to another major opponent last Saturday. Remember when Broner was placed at the top of people's pound for pound lists? Me too. Again, I've become a bit wary of the Hype Machine, which now tells me Spence is the greatest thing since sliced bread and that talented rising stars like Keith Thurman had better beware.
Floyd Mayweather is a big supporter of Spence, after all. And since Floyd's been building up Spence lately, members of boxing's media have been very eager to cheerlead for the man. It's almost as if Floyd has decreed that Spence is the future of boxing and therefore it is so.
Yet while it's true Spence may indeed be the future, I can't shake memories of the Hype Machine's ballyhoo of Broner not so long ago. Or of a whole lot of other fighters before him. Spence may be terrific, but I'm still going to hold off before joining the canonization parade. I'm not a cynic, just a realist who knows that the Hype Machine is capable of getting carried away at times. Besides, Spence doesn't need me cheering him on. He's doing just fine as it is so far.
He also seems to be nicer than Broner.
That's got to count for something.
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