Spence says Pacquiao will be passing the torch to him

By Boxing News - 07/25/2021 - Comments

By Matt Lieberman: Errol Spence Jr says he views his fight with Manny Pacquiao as a passing of the torch type of affair in which the outgoing superstar will be turning over the star status to him. Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) will then be the next PPV star.

Errol says that since Floyd Mayweather Jr wouldn’t fight him so that he could take the torch from him, it’ll be Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) that Spence will be taking it from next month in their fight on August 21st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Pacquiao became a superstar when he took the torch from Oscar De La Hoya in 2008. Before that fight, Pacquiao was a popular guy, but not the mega-star he became after his eighth round knockout victory over De La Hoya.

Interestingly, Mayweather Jr chose to play it safe and retire with an easy fight against Andre Berto in September 2015 rather than face Spence or Keith Thurman, two of the young lions at the time, who were ready to defeat Mayweather and take his torch/scalp to become the next star.

You can argue that Mayweather was selfish by choosing to hang up his gloves without fighting Spence or Thurman, but it might have been too much for him to deal with a loss.

Mayweather had craftily built his unbeaten record by being choosy and not guys in their primes and risky.

Spence expects his Plan-A will work

“I feel like it’s my time,” said Spence to Manouk Akopyan about his belief he’ll beat Pacquiao. “It wasn’t my cup of tea to watch him fight. ‘Oh, I want to imitate that style’ because he was a warrior.

Image: Spence says Pacquiao will be passing the torch to him

“His willingness just to fight and how quick he is,” Spence said about things that he’s concerned with about his fight with Pacquiao. “He’s still going to pull the trigger. He’s not gunshy at all. He’s a guy that is going to fight and bite down and fight.

“I think he’s one of those guys that you’ve got to beat into submission. I feel,” said Spence when asked how he feels since his last fight against Danny Garcia.

“It’s going to be a fun, entertaining fight. Like they said, ‘Plan-B and Plan-C distracts from Plan-A,” said Spence when asked if he has a Plan-B for his fight with Pacquiao.

“I feel like my Plan-A will work, and if it doesn’t, it’s going to turn out to be an all-out war,” said Spence.

Errol isn’t giving any hints about his Plan-A for the Pacquiao fight, but it’s probably the same game plan he used to defeat Mikey Garcia in March 2019.

Spence boxed the 5’6″ Mikey from the outside, not letting him get close to land his big power shots. That was a disciplined effort on Spence’s part to box Mikey for 12 rounds instead of slugging.

Pacquiao will be passing the torch

“Floyd didn’t pass the torch. It’ll be Pacquiao passing the torch,
said Spence. “I’m becoming a pay-per-view star, and I’m becoming that guy in the sport that is going to lead the sport.

Image: Spence says Pacquiao will be passing the torch to him

“No, I wish the best for Terence Crawford,” said Spence when asked if it makes him feel pleased that he’s getting this opportunity and Crawford isn’t.

“I don’t hate on him. I’ve got nothing but respect for Terence. It’s something we’re not even thinking about right now,” said Spence when asked what percentage split that he has in mind for a fight with Crawford.

“The goal is Manny Pacquiao, and the goal has been Manny Pacquiao for a couple of months now. It’s something that we’re 100% focused on.

“We’re not looking into the future. If you look into the future, you get distracted. So right now, it’s Manny Pacquiao.

“So if we have questions about other people, we’ll talk about it after Manny Pacquiao,” said Spence.

Spence will likely defeat Pacquiao to take over as the next star in the sport. If Spence emphatically beats Pacquiao as the Filipino star did against De La Hoya, it’ll mean more.