Errol Spence Jr. crash debate returns as fans revisit Crawford loss

Those wins are often used as proof that the accident had no lasting effect. But some fans argue the performances themselves told a different story.

Against Danny Garcia, Spence won clearly but absorbed more clean left hooks and right hands than expected from a fighter once known for controlling opponents with pressure, timing, and sharp defense. Garcia had moments landing counters that earlier opponents often struggled to find.

Spence won 116 112 or 117 111 on most cards, but he was stationary. The fluid upper body movement was replaced by a high guard that Garcia cracked repeatedly with left hooks. He was blocking punches with his face.

The Ugas fight raised more questions. Ugas landed a number of clean shots and had visible success during stretches of the fight. Spence eventually overwhelmed him and forced the stoppage, but he looked more hittable than the version that dominated welterweights before the crash.

Spence was nearly knocked out on his feet in round six after losing his mouthpiece. While he showed incredible heart to come back and break Ugas’s orbital bone, the invincible aura was gone. He was getting hit by shots that a prime Spence would have seen coming.

The Garcia and Ugas wins were miracle performances in hindsight. They gave fans the illusion that Spence was back to 100%, but they were actually the last gasp of an elite prime. By the time he got to Crawford in July 2023, the cumulative toll of the accident, the eye surgery, and the inactivity had left him a stationary target for the best counter-puncher in the sport.