By Chris Williams: Floyd Mayweather Jr. says if he were training Errol Spence Jr., he wouldn’t have him fighting at 160 or 168 lbs rather than at 154, which is where he’s heading next after losing his three welterweight titles against Terence Crawford.
Floyd knows that moving up 154 won’t be the answer for Spence; he’s basically a 168-pounder in size, and if he tries fighting at junior middleweight, he’ll be just as drained as he was for the Crawford fight.
Errol looked like he was on death’s door from food deprivation when he climbed into the ring for the Crawford fight. Chris Williams has never seen a fighter look as starved from lack of calories as he has with Spence.
Mayweather obviously saw the boiled down, emaciated physical state Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) was in for the undisputed welterweight championship fight against Crawford on July 29th, and he knows from looking at him that he’s not going to be better off moving to 154.
“If I was training Spence or I was in his corner, I don’t think he should be fighting at 147 lbs at all. I don’t think he should be fighting at 154 lbs. I think he should be fighting at 160 lbs or 168 lbs, but I don’t have a say so,” said Floyd Mayweather Jr to FightHype about Errol Spence Jr.
“When certain fighters want to fight, our job is to line it up. We fighters, we’re warriors. We’re always going to fight the best. That’s just how it is,” said Floyd.
Spence had the appearance of a person who had undergone a drastic weight loss program of nonfat milkshakes & rice and looked ready to keel over before the first punch was thrown. Spence looked like he’d been on a Jenny Craig diet.
You can always tell someone that has lost too much weight for their frame, as their head looks too big for their body, and that was clearly the case with Spence. With his jack-o-lantern head, Spence looked like a person locked up in solitary confinement and surviving on a bread & water diet.
You could tell that 154 or even 160 won’t be the answer for Spence. He needs to move up to 168 at the very least and perhaps even 175. When you saw Spence walking around close to 200 lbs and looking solid at that weight, it was a signal that he does not belong anywhere near 147 to 160.
Obviously, Spence would have to forget about his rematch with Crawford if he moves up to 168 because Terence already said that he’s not going to move beyond the 154-lb weight class.
Crawford’s fans won’t be happy hearing what Mayweather said about Spence needing to move up to 160 or 168, as they’ll feel that this is taking credit away from Terence for his victory.
Honestly, a blind man could see that Spence was sickly-looking from a lack of food against Crawford, and if the fans don’t want to admit it, they’ll have to live in denial. They’ll eventually see the truth when Spence moves up to 168 and shines like a diamond, being invigorated.
Still, if that’s how it’s got to be, so be it. Spence is better off forgetting about Crawford if he can’t fight him under full strength in a weight class that his body frame is suited for at 168.
Why should Spence starve himself again and take another loss to Crawford by fighting him at 154 rather than 168 or 175? If Crawford will play it safe for the remainder of his career at 154, let him stay there.
Spence needs to be where he’s comfortable, and that’s at super middleweight or light heavyweight, feeling strong at 100% capacity and getting the big paydays against Caneeloi Alvarez, David Benavidez, Caleb Plant, Dmitry Bivol & Artur Beterbiev.
