{"id":672064,"date":"2026-07-03T18:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T18:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/672064\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T18:00:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T18:00:07","slug":"fighter-who-just-sparred-errol-spence-addresses-his-ability-and-punch-resistance-after-3-years-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/672064\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighter who just sparred Errol Spence addresses his ability and punch resistance after 3 years out"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Having recently sparred Errol Spence Jr, former Tim Tszyu opponent Brian Mendoza has offered his thoughts on their upcoming showdown.<\/p>\n<p>The pair will collide in Australia at a catchweight of 158lbs on July 25, with Spence ending a three-year layoff following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.co.uk\/boxing\/story\/_\/id\/38082047\/errol-spence-jr-terence-crawford-live-boxing-results-analysis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">his ninth-round stoppage defeat to Terence Crawford.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Back then, their welterweight showdown was considered a 50\/50 contest, only for Crawford to produce a dominant performance and become the undisputed king at 147lbs.<\/p>\n<p>Spence was therefore relieved of his WBC, IBF and WBA titles, yet the 36-year-old now looks to reinvent himself at a higher weight.<\/p>\n<p>Taking on a fellow former world champion, Tszyu is equally hoping to reignite his career after losing three of his last six fights.<\/p>\n<p>First, the Australian lost his WBO super-welterweight via a split decision against Sebastian Fundora in 2024, before suffering a third-round stoppage defeat to Bakhram Murtazaliev later that year.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnewsonline.net\/news\/sebastian-fundora-defeats-tim-tszyu-by-seventh-round-rematch-retirement\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tszyu then rematched Fundora in July 2025, only to get stopped in round seven,<\/a> with his last meaningful victory coming against Mendoza in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>But despite being unanimously outpointed by Tszyu, Mendoza has told <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/mx4KjohUZZU?si=qezyKAZ0dM7wgiZM\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FightHype<\/a> that, based on his rounds with Spence, he anticipates the American turning in a technically polished performance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor those of you that think he\u2019s done, that he\u2019s just showing up for a [paycheque] \u2026 he\u2019s not working like someone who\u2019s showing up for a [paycheque].<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe work ethic I got to see in the couple of weeks I was [in camp], and just from being in the ring with him \u2026 there were adjustments every day. He\u2019s not someone that\u2019s just showing up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was catching him with shots the first day we sparred. The second day we sparred, those shots were not landing. People forget he was a [high-IQ] boxer as an amateur.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did check Spence\u2019s punch resistance \u2013 I can definitely say I sent some missiles his way \u2013 and I honestly feel like he responded well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With Tszyu having been stopped in his last two defeats, Spence\u2019s durability could prove crucial if their contest becomes a battle of attrition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Having recently sparred Errol Spence Jr, former Tim Tszyu opponent Brian Mendoza has offered his thoughts on their&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-672064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}