Errol Spence Jr. knocks out Carlos Ocampo with body shot in round 1
Errol Spence Jr. successfully defended his IBF welterweight title against Carlos Ocampo. He now looks for a welterweight to give him a challenge.
On Tuesday’s media call, Errol Spence Jr. said that he didn’t know who Carlos Ocampo was until he was deemed his mandatory challenger. When they finally met on Saturday night in Showtime’s main event, Ocampo did nothing to make Spence remember him.
Spence made his way to the ring adorned in Dallas Cowboys themed warmup gear. The fight took place at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas, and Spence had his Dallas area hometown in his corner. It’s also the practice facility of the Dallas Cowboys. Nearly 14,000 fans came out to cheer Spence on.
Spence and Ocampo fought cautiously at the start of the opening round. Ocampo landed well to the body. Spence retaliated, but Ocampo’s height and reach made it hard for him to get inside.
Ocampo was having a nice round until Spence nailed him with a left hook to the groin and a right hook to the body. Ocampo didn’t see the punches coming and they floored him immediately. He doubled over on the ground in a kneeling position clutching his midsection. He writhed in pain for more than 10 seconds and was counted out.
Spence won by knockout in round one, which isn’t surprising. Ocampo came into the fight with a 22-0 record, but he never fought anyone of merit. He was a 27-1 underdog coming into the fight.
With this win, Spence advanced his record to 24-0, with 21 knockouts. He needed to win this fight in impressive fashion—mission accomplished. With his mandatory challenger out of the way, Spence can pursue a big money fight against a top-tier welterweight.
Spence has mentioned fighting the winner of Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter. They fight on Saturday, August 25. Terence Crawford just knocked out Jeff Horn to win the WBO welterweight title, but he’s a serious threat to Spence. Spence’s management will likely match him against less risky opposition.
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Whoever Spence fights next, he’s guaranteed to draw an audience. Outside of Crawford, Spence would be favored over any welterweight in the division. Hopefully, his next bout will be much more challenging than this one.