By Sean Reed

"Everybody says this is the best fighter Errol's ever fought against, and that's true.  But at the same time, I believe that from a technical and fundamental standpoint, Errol's the best fighter he's ever fought against" - Derrick James

With the utmost respect and sincerity, the gauntlet was thrown; no raised, threatening tones or in-your-face bravado.  Just a matter of fact statement from Derrick James, the man that’s cultivated and sharpened the skills of Errol Spence, Jr. (20-0, 17 KO's), who only began boxing at the age of 15.  Today, Spence looks as if he were born into the sport, generating positive feedback from pugilistic cognoscenti and otherwise hard to please trainers like Freddie Roach, Virgil Hunter, Robert Garcia, and others. 

Praise notwithstanding, pundits rightfully pointed to the resume, as it was devoid of name recognition. ; Until Saturday night, April 16th, that is, when Spence took his first major step up in competition, finishing former junior welterweight titlist Chris Algieri (21-3, 8 KO's), in the 5th round.  The bout was held at Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, New York, headlining "Premier Boxing Champions" nationally televised show on NBC.

Prior to the 2008 P.A.L. national boxing tournament, Errol Spence, Sr., approached Derrick James about training his son.  James was finishing out his own professional career at the time, fighting on self-promoted shows in the Dallas area, and just so happened to work out at the same gym as Spence's namesake. 

Though talented, athletic and aggressive, Spence Jr, (aka, “E.J.”) needed work.  James liked the young man’s focus, maturity, competitiveness, the fact he had a solid familial support system around him, and decided to get onboard.  By his own admission, “E.J.” had a southpaw 1-2 and hook to the head in his repertoire, exclusively.  Not long after working with James, there were immediate improvements in Spence's footwork, head movement, defense and patience. 

A dominant run of amateur success ensued, culminating in a spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.

From the outset, James' perspective was about instruction and improvement.  "I'm not a trainer, I'm a teacher.  Trainers get you in shape", Derrick said.  “Even back in the day, everybody was telling him how good he looked, but my job was to look for flaws.  I got “E.J.” to not focus on his left as much.  You have two hands, so use them.  I wanted him to have a more complete style; counterpunching, angles, using distance and range to his advantage, being more focused and fighting smarter.”

Possessing a work ethic beyond reproach, the challenge for Spence was to not overdo it, in preparation for Algieri.  He flat-out demanded more rounds of bag and mitt work and logged more mileage of roadwork.  12 round sparring sessions stretched to 16 or more, with fresh super middles, light heavy’s and heavyweights rotating in and out.  The laid back and soft-spoken Spence was quieter, even a bit surly in the lead up.  Fighter and chief second became increasingly perturbed by the notion of being “coddled”, which was constantly suggested by Team Algieri.  Each sparring session morphed into a statement, and then came fight night.

Spence started the affair patiently, behind a high guard, utilizing a southpaw jab, examining the openings his feints created.  Before long, he was swatting away Algieri’s attempted jabs and landing meaty body shots.  By the end of the 1st, color commentator, B.J. Flores, opined, “His (Spence’s) trainer said ‘Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan aren’t as fundamentally sound as my guy is’ and I kind of agree with him.”  Algieri was brave and game as ever, yet overmatched in the 2nd and 3rd.  He got caught on the tail-end of a left hook, which deposited him on the canvas in round 4.  A long, overhand left dropped the battered and swollen Algieri in the following round, then a flush, fully torqued left hook to the head led to Algieri’s final knockdown, convincing Benjie Esteves to stop the fight. 

It was like a typical day of sparring for Team Spence, but more brief.