IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. blasted his way through Lamont Peterson on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Spence scored a TKO victory when Peterson's trainer Barry Hunter stopped the bout when he recognized his fighter was simply taking punishment with no realistic chance to win.
It was the right call.
From the outset, Spence's hard combinations, defense, stamina, and pressure broke Peterson down.
Spence appeared to hurt Peterson on a number of occasions, including a fifth-round knockdown, but the challenger never had the champion in any peril. If Peterson had more power, perhaps he may have maintained a puncher's chance. As it was, he was Spence's punching bag for seven rounds. Here's how much of the boxing community reacted to the one-sided beatdown.
EROL SPENCE IS LIKE A TERMINATOR.......THAT SMILES WHILE HE DESTROYS YOU.......... #SCARY ...CONGRATS SPENCE.
— Steve Cunningham (@usscunningham) January 21, 2018
Both eyes were closing. He landed monster shots on Spence throughout and didn't rock Spence. He wasn't winning on the cards. Corner did a tremendous job. Health comes first. #SpencePeterson #boxingkingdom https://t.co/VayfKxroOl
— Boxing Kingdom (@BoxingKingdom14) January 21, 2018
Boxing is definitely in a great place now with elite fighters like Spence, Crawford, Lomachenko, Golovkin, Alvarez, Thurman, exciting heavyweights, etc
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) January 21, 2018
There's nothing NOT to like about Spence. He does it all at an elite level. There's nothing NOT to respect about Peterson. He's a fighter to the bitter end. #boxing #SpencePeterson
— Douglass Fischer (@dougiefischer) January 21, 2018
Errol Spence landed 161 punches, Lamont Peterson THREW 158. Total domination. #SpencePeterson
— CompuBox (@CompuBox) January 21, 2018
Erroll Spence Jr is the real thing...
— @BarbosaBox (@BarbosaBox) January 21, 2018
When the fight was over, Errol Spence Jr. wasted no time letting the world know who he wanted next.
"I'm waiting on @keithfthurmanjr." - @ErrolSpenceJr #SpencePeterson pic.twitter.com/e6wz7ARVMi
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) January 21, 2018
Likewise, Thurman acknowledged the callout.
I you young buck. Be patient, your time is coming. #OneTime pic.twitter.com/TgUJ020Kl8
— Keith Thurman Jr. (@keithfthurmanjr) January 21, 2018
Thurman has said he doesn't plan to fight Spence in 2018. He'd rather have a tuneup bout as he recovers from shoulder surgery.
Purses for the #SpencePeterson card: Spence $1.2 million, Peterson $600k, Easter $310k, Fortuna $65k. #boxing #EasterFortuna
— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) January 21, 2018
If and when Spence fights again this year, the push for the fight will only intensify. Despite other reports, Spence's purse was a reported $1.2 million for the fight and Peterson took home $600,000 in a losing effort.