“It’s supposed to be October or November. I don’t really have a target date,” said Spence to Showtime. “I was supposed to be back in January, but then I got hurt. So I’ve been out for a while. This pandemic has really been helping me out a lot with recovery and taking my time to get back.
“I can’t spar yet because I got my teeth knocked out, and I actually got three posts in my mouth. I’m waiting for them to heal. Once they recover, I’ll get my permanent teeth, and I’ll be able to spar.
Ballooning up to 189 pounds before Porter fight
“I think I made it a lot harder than it was supposed to be due to the weight drop. I came down from 189 pounds to 147 in a matter of nine weeks. So the whole training camp, I was running two times a day, and hitting the bag in a sauna suit. I was training in a sauna suit, punishing myself losing weight. And I made it a lot harder than it was supposed to be.
“I could have made it a lot easier. I know he’s [Porter] been calling or a rematch, but unfortunately, that’s going to have to wait. And I got a lot of bigger fish to fry. I got Manny Pacquiao I’ve been trying to fight. He’s the cash cow right now. That’s who I want. You have to cut everything.
“Your water weight, food intake, and you’re running twice a day with a sauna suit and my pants. I was working out with the sauna suit, and I wasn’t drinking too much water. I was probably drinking 26 ounces a day if that. I’m eating twice a day. I’m always in shape, so I don’t think that played a big difference in the fight.
“If I’d been more disciplined and cut the weight earlier, it would have been a way more natural fight than what it was. 100% focused, I think I’d beat Floyd. He’s mentally tough. I’d cut him up, and use my jab, throw combinations and work the body and work the head. A lot of people work the head and then work the body. And then they go to the head, but you can’t hit them in the head.
Spence ready for fight date
“So I work the body and then work the head and break them down physically because I know I can work them down mentally. He’s one of those tough fighters like Shawn Porter. You’re not going to break him down mentally. You can break him down physically, but mentally he’s always going to be there. I would just break him down physically.
“It’s just back and forth talk,” said Spence on him and Crawford. We came to a mutual understanding that the fight is going to happen. The money might not be right at this time, but it will be right, and we’re going to fight. Guys like him, I respect, but guys like Keith Thurman, I don’t have much respect for. Danny Garcia comes off like a standup guy, and Pacquiao is a standup guy. Terence Crawford is a real dude in my book.
“I’m ready to fight. And I’ve been waiting for a fight date since January. I thought I was going to fight in August, but it got pushed back to October or November, which my parents are happy. ‘You don’t need to jump right back in there.’ I’m like, ‘I’m ready.’ When the doctor gives me the green light, I’m ready to go. It’s a blessing I’m here, and it’s a blessing that I wasn’t severely injured, and I didn’t break anything either.
Pacquiao, Crawford and Danny Garcia on target list
“I’m ready to fight. For someone to get ejected from a Ferrari and land on pure concrete. The Ferrari was flipping too, and for the Ferrari not to hit me. I then landed on pure concrete and broke everything in my mouth, and not to have any facial fractures and this to be all scared up and for me to still be walking, I feel like I’m here for a reason.
“I’d do Pacquiao, Terence Crawford, and Danny Garcia,” said Spence when asked who the top three fighters he would want to face. “He’s [Mayweather] retired right now. Of course, Floyd. Floyd is the money GOAT. Best knockout? Leonard Bundu. When I hit him, I walked off with it, and that’s why it looked pretty. His body went too when I walked off. So that was probably the prettiest one.
“For me, it doesn’t matter. As long as my check is the same,” said Spence when asked about his thoughts on fighting in an empty arena without fans. “I used to fight for free. So as long a the check is the same, then we’re going to get to. It’s going to be the same beat down. So as long as the check is right, we’re going to get in there and fight. I’m not worried about it at all.
Spence taking things for granted
“I was taking a lot of things for granted and was heading toward destruction. Even in the Shawn Porter fight, it showed I was slacking on a lot of stuff. And even in the Mikey Garcia fight. Even though I beat him and won every round, the power wasn’t there. I should have finished him, but the power wasn’t there because I was trying too hard to make weight. In the Mikey Garcia fight, the day of the weigh-in, I was sitting in the sauna for an hour, and I didn’t sweat.
“I had the sauna suit on, and I had a hoodie on. I didn’t sweat for an hour in being in there. That was just to make weight, and I was drained, and then I could only go up 10 pounds. So I had to watch what I eat and what I drunk. I was already heading towards destruction.
“That car accident was an omen for me. I thought, ‘you’re tripping right now. Get back your stuff. You say you’re going it for your family. You say you want to be great, and you say you want to be a legend. Get back on your A-game. So it was a blessing that I got in that accident. It put a lot of things in perspective that I didn’t put in perspective at first because I was so on a high, that I was floating. It pulled me down and knocked me down.
Looking in the mirror
“I had to look at myself in the mirror. A lot of guys get in an accident and do something wrong, and they don’t look at themselves in the mirror. Someone else can do something wrong, and they’ll put the blame on them. ‘Oh, he did that, and he did that.’ When it’s time to look in the mirror and critique yourself, a lot of guys can’t do that.
“It’s tough. I had to do that to myself. I had to critique myself. ‘Yo, man, you’re tripping. Get back on your A-game.’ I’m the hunted now. There’s a lot of guys behind me like I was. They’re coming up from behind me. There’s an X on my chest. They’re trying to knock me out,” said Spence.
