By Chris Williams: Errol Spence gave his first interview on Saturday night since his car crash on October 10, and he says he plans on fighting in May or June. The unbeaten IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs) says he doesn’t want a tune-up when he returns to the ring. He’d like to fight Danny Garcia or Manny Pacquiao, but he’s also interested in facing Top Rank fighter Terence Crawford.
Spence crashed his Ferrari Spider on October 10 in Dallas, Texas. Not wearing a seat belt at the moment of impact, Spence was thrown from his vehicle as it tumbled 3 times before stopping. In the aftermath of the accident, Spence spent six days in the ICU, and he was charged with DWI by the police department in Dallas. Surprisingly Spence suffered no broken bones during the accident.
In looking at Spence’s face, the left side still appears to be bruised, swollen and with a still healing abrasion. It’s been over 2 months since Spence’s car crash on October 10, and it’s unclear why his face is still swollen.
On social media, some believe that Spence is slurring his words a little. It does seem like he slurred a little, but it’s unknown whether that was already there. In Spence’s last fight against Shawn Porter, he took a lot of punishment in beating him by a 12 round split decision last September.
Spence can’t afford to continue fighting to his opponent’s strength if he wants to have a long career. But we still don’t know if Spence is going to be able to ever get back to the level he was at before.
Spence with just sore ribs
“I’m feeling good and I’m spending time with my family, friends and my little girl while I’ve been out of boxing,” said Spence to Fox. “my ribs were just sore. My whole body was sore. I guess it was a miracle from God. That really protected me from the accident, because anyone else probably would have been killed,” said Spence.
“It was just a blessing from God that I was able to make it safe to be able to return to boxing next year,” said Spence. “I don’t remember too much. I can’t really talk about the case right now. I’ve been advised by my lawyer. There’s still a pending case going on. So I can’t talk about it.
“I was back training last week, and I wasn’t sore or anything,” said Spence. “And I feel like I took a long rest, and I think it was a miracle. I think it was a blessing from God that I didn’t have anything serious, because it could have ended my career. My body felt good. I took some time off, and I now feel like I’m rejuvenated, and ready to get back in the gym and train hard,” said Spence.
It’s going to be interesting to see if Spence is able to return to the ring in the summer like he says he will. When asked by Fox commentator Brian Kenny whether he would be able to return to the ring that soon, Spence said he’ll fight at some point in 2020. The way he said that, he might only be fighting once next year.
May or June target months for Spence’s next fight
“I’m definitely going to be through it. I’ll be fighting in May or June,” said Spence. “So I already started training last week. I’m feeling good. I hit the mitts and everything. I even ran too. I’m feeling good, so I can start training at the start of 2020. No, I feel good. I’m working with my coach, and even ran and feeling good,” said Spence.
There’s a big difference from hitting mitts and actual fighting. If Spence has any lingering effects from his car accident, then he’s going to have problems when he returns to the ring. That’s why it’s important that Spence take a tune-up fight to see if he can still fight at a high level without falling apart.
“I’ll definitely be back in the Summer or the spring,” said Spence. “I’ll definitely be back next year. No restrictions at all. I’ve been cleared. They did all types of scans on me, and they think it’s a miracle. I can’t explain it. I just thank God. I’m definitely going to put on a great show when I do come back. The second time around, I’m not going to take anything for granted,” said Spence.
It is a miracle that Spence was thrown from his Ferrari and not having suffered any broken bones or traumatic injuries. Spence’s automobile was completely thrashed. That just as easily could have been Spence that was physically damaged from the crash.
Errol didn’t say anything when he was asked about whether he had lost some teeth in the accident. He might been felt uncomfortable in answering a question like that. Spence did say he passed all the scans that were given to him in the hospital.
Spence wants NO tune-ups, mentions Pacquiao or Danny Garcia
“I want to fight one of the top fighters. And I don’t want a tune-up fight,” said Spence. “I want to fight Pacquiao or Garcia. And I want to fight Danny Garcia. I was supposed to fight him in January, but I had the accident. But those are who I’m looking to fight. I’m the top dog in the division. I am the king of the division,” said Spence.
It’s not going to make Top Rank promoter Bob Arum happy hearing Spence say that he’s the #1 welterweight in the division, because he thinks his guy Terence Crawford is the # guy.
“Those guys wish I wasn’t back so fast, but I am back and I want to fight a top guy in the division. Whether it’s Manny Pacquiao, Terence Crawford or whether it’s Danny Garcia. Those are the top names. I do want to be undisputed welterweight champion of the world,” said Spence.
The management for Spence will have the final word as to whether he’ll be fighting next against an elite level fighter. It doesn’t make any sense for Spence to take on a guy like Danny Garcia, Pacquiao or Crawford in his first fight back from his terrible car crash. Those guys would obviously be more than happy to fight Spence in his next fight, because it gives them an excellent shot at beating him.
A better fight for Spence’s return would be one of these guys:
- Josesito Lopez
- Kiryl Relikh
- Josh Kelly
- Maurice Hooker
- Sergei Lipinets
- Kudratillo Abdukakhorov