Errol Spence Jr. to fight in May or June in Dallas [wants Canelo]

By Jim Dower: A triumphant Errol Spence Jr. says he’ll be back fighting again “real soon” in May or June to defend his IBF 147 lb. title in Dallas, Texas. If he doesn’t defend his IBF welterweight title, Spence says he’d be interested in facing Saul Canelo Alvarez at 160.

For Canelo to fight Spence in April or May, he would have to delay his rematch with IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin until September. Golden Boy Promotions would likely make the deal for Spence to fight Canelo in May if he agrees to signing with the the company. If Spence volunteered to ink with Golden Boy, he’d likely get the fight with Canelo and end up making a bundle of money.

Spence Jr. defended his title successfully last Saturday night with a stoppage win in round 7 against ring veteran Lamont Peterson (35-4-1, 17 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Spence put Peterson on the canvas in round 5. Peterson continued fighting, but he looked weak and lethargic in taking a shellacking by Spence until his trainer Barry Hunter pulled him out after the 7th round had ended.

Spence wants the unification fight against WBA/WBC welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman soon, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen this year. Thurman says “Be patient. Your time is coming.”

Thurman has 3 fights he wants to make in 2018, but none of them involve Spence.

It’s too bad Spence is such good friends with the Charlo brothers, because that would be a natural fight for him to take against one of those guys. Spence can defend his IBF welterweight title, but there aren’t any interesting contenders in the International Boxing Federation’s top 15 ranking.

The only slightly interesting contender was Lamont Peterson, but he wasn’t any problem for Peterson to knockout. That was too easy for Spence. With the size that Spence has on his 5’9” frame, he should move up to 154 for his next fight and look to face one of these junior middleweights:

• Kell Brook – A rematch between Spence and Brook would be an excellent fight

• Sadam Ali

• Jarrett Hurd

• Liam Smith

• Maciej Sulecki

• Brian Varlos Castano

• Erislandy Lara

• Julian Williams

Those are good options for Spence if he’s willing to take a small career risk by moving up in weight. If Spence stays at 147 for his next fight, then his management will likely put him in with Luis Collazo. I think it’s very likely Collazo gets the fight because he’s with the same guy that manages Spence. The only issue with Spence facing Collazo is the lack of ranking. Collazo hasn’t been fighting lately, and he’d be a terrible choice for Spence to fight in 2018. It would have been a bad choice for Spence to fight a couple of years ago, but right now it’s even worse. This would not be a fight that would do much for Spence’s popularity in the boxing world. Collazo is already been beaten in recent years by Amir Khan and Keith Thurman. There’s nothing for Spence to gain from beating Collazo other than trying to knock him out quicker than Thurman did.