By Chris Williams: Superstar Errol Spence Jr. posted on social media a photo of himself sitting next to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and his stable fighters Terence Crawford and Shakur Stevenson last Saturday night at the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury 2 rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada
Spence, who clearly having fun with what appears to a photoshop job, asked who put him next to the Top Rank people.
Top Rank wants Crawford vs. Spence in 2020
Arum is still hoping IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs) can return to the ring in 2020 so that he can match him against his fighter WBO champion Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) in a unification fight on pay-per-view, but the match-up is unlikely.
Crawford, 32, is getting older and needs that breakout fight to take his career to the next level. Spence would be that guy that Crawford needs, but it’s just his bad luck that he’s out of commission right now. While guys like Tim Bradley have tried to motivate the PBF welterweights to cross the pond and face Crawford, it’s not happened.
Spence still hasn’t made his ring return since his car crash on October 10 in Dallas, and no one knows whether he’ll be the same fighter he was before the wreck. It’s a good sign that Spence is now out in public, attending fights because he’d not been seen for several months after the car crash.
There’s talk of the 29-year-old Spence resuming his career in the summer, but it’s now almost March, and nothing is being said about his next fight. That’s not a good sign.
Spence has great options
When Spence does come back, it makes a lot of sense for him to face WBA welterweight champion, Manny Pacquiao, if he’s still the champion. It’s important Spence to try and come back soon if he can since he could miss out on a big-money fight against the former eight-division world champion Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) if he delays his return.
Of course, if Spence is still not 100% recovered from his car crash, then there’s nothing that can be done about it. He’ll have no other choice but to wait until he’s recovered fully.
Besides potential fights against Pacquiao and Crawford, Spence has Danny Garcia and a rematch with Shawn Porter that boxing fans would like to see. Keith Thurman hasn’t shown a lot of interest in fighting Spence, so he’s probably not a good option.
Before Spence’s car crash, PBC had planned on matching him against Danny Garcia on January 25 on Fox Sports Pay-Per-View. Rather than that great fight happening, Danny fought fringe contender Ivan Redkach and beat him by a 12 round unanimous decision. The fight wasn’t entertaining.
Spence is in a better position than Crawford is right now in terms of the fights available to him, but if he’s not the same fighter after the car crash, he won’t take advantage of his opportunities.