By Matt Lieberman: Errol Spence Jr. said today that he plans on moving up to 154 to challenge for the world titles in that division after he finishes unifying the 147-lb division against WBA champ Yordenis Ugas and WBO champion Terence Crawford.
As far as a potential future fight against Canelo Alvarez, Spence sees six or seven fighters chasing the Mexican star. Who knows when Canelo will be done fighting all of them?
IBF/WBC 147-lb champion Errol (27-0, 21 KOs) says he doesn’t see any real need to stay at 147 to defend his undisputed championship against the young phenom Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis after he collects his final two belts at welterweight this year.
Spence and Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) will meet on April 16th on Showtime PPV at the AT&&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This will be Spence’s first fight since suffering a torn retina last year while training for a fight against Manny Pacquiao.
This is a tough fight for Spence to be taken against the heavy hitter Ugas in his first bout back after eye surgery, but he feels confident that he’ll get through the match without any setbacks.
“I’ll probably fight two more times at 147,” said Errol Spence Jr. to Fighthype. “I feel I have the better skills and the better talent than him [Yordenis Ugas].
“I think I’ll prevail, but he’ll definitely give me a test. I’m just focused 100% on doing my game plan and I feel like everything is going to take care of itself.
“I definitely would [want to stop Ugas],” said Spence. “If the opportunity opens, I’m definitely going to go for it. We train for a 12 round fight because if it’s a grueling fight, I want to be ready for that.
“I’m quite confident I can go 12 rounds easy because I’ve gone 12 rounds and it wasn’t grueling on me at all.
Spence not interested in Ennis fight
“He definitely is talented, but right now, I’m not looking at him,” said Spence when asked about his thoughts on Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis potentially becoming his IBF mandatory if he beats Custio Clayton in their title eliminator.
“I don’t have anything really to gain. Ugas has a belt and Terence Crawford has a belt. Those are the big, huge fights for me. He’s [Ennis] is an amazing talent. Hopefully, he’s going to be on top soon.
“It’s just like me when I was coming up. He’s super talented and super skilled. I wish him the best in the future.
“It’s definitely possible,” said Spence when asked if a fight between him and Terence Crawford can happen this year.
“That’s not even something I’m worried about,” said Spence when asked about his thoughts on a fight against Canelo Alvarez. “He’s at 175 and has six or seven guys chasing behind him. I’m not really worried about that fight. if it happens it happens.
“I want to put on a great one-sided performance and a great show for everybody where they’re saying, ‘He’s back.’ I feel like surgery has come a long way since the 60s and the 70s,” said Spence when asked if he has concerns about his surgically repaired eye.
“Ray Leonard had that surgery and his was worst than mine, and he came back and fought. That was 30 or 40 years ago. So, I feel like I’m in great shape. I have a great surgeon and everything got cleared. All my tests got cleared, and everything is good.
“I can’t dwell on that because I make more than 99% of the people in the universe, so I can’t dwell on that,” said Errol when asked if he feels regret that he missed out on a massive payday against Manny Pacquiao last August due to his eye injury.
“Everything happens for a reason, and you’ve got to stay the course and keep winning. It’s going to be more paydays in the future,” said Spence.
