When these two men met the first time back in 2010 Cory Spinks was the IBF Light Middleweight champion, the division looked pretty average and it was fairly difficult to get too excited about anything at 154lbs. Fast forward to 2012 and you have one of the most interesting divisions in boxing with the likes of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, Floyd "Money" Mayweather, Miguel Angel Cotto, James Kirkland, Erislandy Lara, Javier Maciel, Acelino "Popo" Freitas and Vanes Martirosyan. What this meant is that a world title today at 154lbs is worth a lot more than it was 2 years ago, in fact it's worth a lot more than it was worth just 18 months ago. With that in mind this was a really major bout for one of boxing's key divisions at the moment.
When the men first met Bundrage had little difficulty in beating down Spinks who looked to be a fighter on his last legs, he was slow and there for Bundrage to tag...repeatedly. Sadly for Spinks he had aged 2 years since that fight and it took little time for Bundrage to score a knock down in their rematch with Spinks' key asset, his speed, no longer what is once was.
Whilst Spinks tried to wrestle himself back into the bout, quite literally at times, he was unable to to keep Bundrage, who was wild but determined, off him. Due to the fact Spinks never really recovered his legs from the first knockdown he was unable to move as he'd have liked and this forced him to fight fire with fire, something that was never going to suit him. By the middle rounds Spinks, who had been able to claim some rounds, was starting to look damaged and was taking some major shots that he wouldn't have taken in his prime. Those shots were taking their toll.
As we got to round 7 the bout had actually become relatively close, Spinks, whilst looking a shadow of his former self, was able to take advantage of the sloppy offense of Bundrage who seemed to be there for the beating if he'd have been in with someone with some power. Bundrage however realised that he needed to step it up and from the start of round 7 he was on a charge, dropping Spinks heavily early in the round. Whilst Spinks recovered to his feet he never actually recovered enough and Bundrage raced in for the kill dropping Spinks again. Once more Spinks picked himself up from the canvas and showed amazing heart though it was only a matter of time before the referee stopped the bout. Spinks would be dropped once more, after a serious of low blows, before the referee eventually stopped what had become a one sided beat down.
Bundrage TKO7 Spinks
2nd IBF Light Middleweight title defence for Bundrage
On the undercard super prospect Gary Russell Jr scored an impressive 3rd TKO over Christopher Perez.
