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I'm surprised at that to be honest, I like Spence a lot as a fighter, and I think he beats Thurman all day long. I too was out with my prediction, albeit a little closer than you, I had it pretty much as it happened, just expected the fight to be stopped in the championship rounds.
Three things for me, make Spence one of the best around. His most impressive is his footwork, it's exceptional. A few times (beginning of fifth and some point in the seventh were the best examples), Garcia attempted to be really offensive and back Spence up to the ropes, now bear in mind how good Garcia is around his weight class, he's capable of cutting off the ring, and putting fighters under pressure. Every time, Spence would take three of four steps, slipping all Garcia's shots in the process and immediately holding the centre of the ring again. His footwork also means that Spence is always in range to land his shots, but rarely in range to be hit.
His shot selection, and this goes hand in hand with with his footwork. But the victory against Brook was built on this, he came in and systematically broke Brook down, by working the body in the first half of the fight, knowing t would pay dividends late on, and as he got to the middle of the fight, he opened up his repertoire, landing more and more to the head and body, as Brook visibly tired from the onslaught to the body. Yes, Brook was struggling for weight, but this fight plan was perfectly executed, and because Brook had some success early doors, people really don't give Spence the credit he deserves for that victory. What Spence did against Garcia, was change it up. Garcia clearly expected the body onslaught, hell most of us did - I did. But Spence used his footwork to land his jab with impunity, in jab, cross, out, in jab, hook, out. It was simple, unexpected, and made an easy night's work, it helped he had the power to make sure he backed Garcia up each time. And it frustrated Garcia, so occasionally, Garcia would come at him, sometimes with success, but it was here that Spence targeted the body. I'm genuinely impressed Garcia lasted the pace, I honestly thought he should have been pulled though (not just because of my bet), no-one needs a brave corner.
Thirdly, his accuracy is excellent, he rarely wastes a shot, the stats he posted that night against a smaller, supposedly quicker man were phenomenal, no matter where he was targeting he almost always landed.
I think he beats Thurman (and I like Thurman), he just has more in the locker. But it'd be a good fight.
