The highly anticipated super fight between Errol Spence and Terence Crawford is finally official and set for July 29th. The fight won’t only determine the best welterweight of this era, but also the number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. This fight has been years in the making, and ever since Crawford moved up to the welterweight division, these two have been on a collision course. As the fight gets closer we will have a full in-depth analysis of the matchup, but for now, I’ll leave you with the top five knockout victories of each men’s career to date. First, let’s start with unified world welterweight champion, Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. When ranking the knockout wins, I factored in strength of opponent. To me, a TKO win over a world champion is “better” than a one-punch knockout over an overmatched opponent.

Current Titles: IBF Welterweight Title (defeated IBF Champion Kell Brook in 2017)

WBC Welterweight Title (defeated WBC Champion Shawn Porter in 2019)

WBA Welterweight Title (defeated WBA Champion Yordenis Ugas in 2021)

“The Truth’s” Top 5 Knockout Wins to Date

1) Errol Spence vs Kell Brook (Round 11 TKO) May 27th, 2017

Errol Spence went into then IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England in an attempt to claim his first world title. Brook started strong, but the longer the fight went on the more the younger Spence wore him down and took control. A left hand to the chin of Brook dropped him in round ten, and that was the beginning of the end. Brook’s left eye had swollen so bad that he was forced to take a knee in the eleventh round, and was not able to make the ten count. With that Errol Spence was the new IBF welterweight champion. After the fight, Brook was diagnosed with a broken left eye socket and was never quite the same fighter from that point on.

2) Errol Spence vs Yordenis Ugas (Round 10 TKO) April 16th, 2022

In Spence’s most recent outing, he unified his WBC and IBF titles with the WBA title that was held by Yordenis Ugas. Ugas was fresh off of a career-defining victory over the legendary Manny Pacquiao, where he filled in for Spence once Spence withdrew from the fight due to a detached retina that he suffered during training. There was a bit of concern regarding how Spence would look in his first fight after the injury, but he turned in a dominant performance and looked like a prime Errol Spence. Ugas had his moments of success counterpunching, and in round six he had Spence momentarily hurt by a right hand that caused him to bounce off the ropes. From that moment on, Spence took over the fight and punished Ugas. A left uppercut from Spence landed right on the eye of Ugas in the seventh round, and from that point on it was apparent that it was only a matter of time before the fight would be finished. Ugas showed the spirit of a warrior, lasting until the tenth round before the fight was stopped due to him not being able to see out of his right eye. Ugas ended up with a fractured right orbital bone and has not fought since.

3) Errol Spence vs Carlos Ocampo (Round 1 KO) June 16th, 2018

Spence’s second defense of his IBF title was a homecoming fight that certainly did not disappoint. Carlos Ocampo was an undefeated mandatory challenger but quickly crumbled due to the savage body attack of Spence. Spence targeted the body from the opening bell and broke down Ocampo quickly. Near the end of the first round, a left uppercut to the body of Ocampo forced him to the canvas. He remained hunched over in pain throughout the ten count and with that, the fight was called off. At the time some people were unsure how to rate this win because Ocampo was young and relatively unproven, but he went on a twelve-fight win streak at 154lbs after this defeat before losing a competitive decision to then interim WBC Champion Sebastian Fundora last year. He is now scheduled to fight for the interim 154lb WBO title against Tim Tszyu this summer, so this win has certainly aged well.

4) Errol Spence vs Lamont Peterson (Round 7 RTD) January 20th, 2018

Fresh off claiming the IBF welterweight title against Kell Brook, Errol Spence made his first defense against Lamont Peterson. Peterson was a unified world champion at 140lbs, and was coming off a victory over David Avanesyan for the WBA “Regular” welterweight title. Spence started the fight active as he always does, with a focus on attacking the body of Peterson. As the rounds went by and Peterson began to worry more about protecting his body, Spence began to land flush shots to the head. A clubbing left hand upstairs floored Peterson early in the fifth round. Peterson would land a massive right hand on the chin of Spence shortly after, but Spence was not affected and continued to dish out punishment. After the seventh round, Peterson’s head trainer Barry Hunter had seen enough and informed the referee that his fighter was not fit to continue and the fight was called off.

5) Errol Spence vs Chris Algieri (Round 5 TKO) April 16th, 2016

Errol Spence was a highly touted prospect coming out of the 2012 Olympics. He quickly raised his record to 19-0 with 16 KOs, and in his 20th contest was given a step up in opposition. He was matched with former 140lb world champion Chris Algieri, a man who had been defeated twice by Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan but had gone the twelve-round duration in both losses. Spence past his first real test with flying colors, overwhelming Algieri from the opening bell. Algieri had been in with elite-level operators in the past, but the physicality of Spence was something that he had never seen in the ring before. A left hand from mid-range dropped Algieri in the fourth round and Spence only leveled up the pressure from that point on. He scored another knockdown twenty seconds into the fifth round and then hunted Algieri down and sent him to the canvas once again shortly after and that was all she wrote.

Honorable Mentions: Errol Spence vs Leonard Bundu (Round 6 KO) August 21st, 2016

Spence faced Leonard Bundu in a twelve-round contest which also served as a title eliminator fight. Bundu had been beaten once before, but he went all twelve rounds in a decision loss to Keith Thurman for the “interim” WBA welterweight title a year and a half before this matchup. Bundu came out aggressive, hoping to overwhelm the lesser-experienced Spence, but Spence used crisp body punching to slow the veteran down. A left uppercut appeared to score a knockdown for Spence halfway through the sixth round, and though it was ruled a push, Bundu was clearly hurt by the punch. Spence wasted no time getting back on the attack, and a right hook nearly sent Bundu out of the ring abruptly ending the fight.

Errol Spence vs Alejandro Barrera (Round 5 TKO) November 28th, 2015

Spence took on Alejandro Barrera in his first twelve-round bout of his career. He was caught flush a few times in the early goings, but it became evident quickly that Barrera did not possess the same firepower that Spence did. A body shot combination floored Barrera less than a minute into the fifth round. Spence followed up with combinations to the head and the body which had Barrera retreating and in major trouble. Spence even loaded up with a bolo-type left hand to the body, and after going back upstairs to land a left to the head Barrera dropped to a knee and the fight was waived off.

Errol Spence vs Chris van Heerden (Round 8 TKO) September 11th, 2015

Chris van Heerden is an awkward southpaw, and his awkwardness wasn’t able to help him out against a hungry young fighter on the rise like Errol Spence. Van Heerden would attempt to “taunt” Spence and let him know that he wasn’t bothered by his attack, but it was clear that was not the case. Spence used his jab to set up power shots, mostly the uppercut to the head and hooks to the body. In round seven, a left hand to the head of van Heerden sent him crumbling to the canvas for the first time in his career. In the eighth round van Heerden had no choice but to shell up and take the combinations of Spence, forcing the referee to step in and save him before he took any more unnecessary punishment.