Former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. spilled the beans today on social media, revealing that he underwent cataract surgery to repair a right eye problem that hampered his performance in his fight against Terence Crawford last July.
Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) says his eye problems were the cause for him getting hit with repeated jabs from the Omaha, Nebraska native Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) in their mega-fight on Showtime PPV last summer.
“Had successful cataract surgery today! That explains why I got hit with so many jabs and hooks lately and have been overdue since before the Crawford fight. Still a great performance by Bro. No more excuses after this fight, though. The champ is back!” said Spence on social media.
A Shadow Over Victory
Errol’s revelation takes a lot of the shine away from Terence’s career-best win last summer, tarnishing the victory, making it clear that he was fighting a guy with an eye problem, who was also weight drained from cutting down from 190 and been involved in two car crashes.
Spence showed a lot of courage, fighting with just one good eye, unable to see Crawford’s jabs until it was too late due to his vision problem.
It’s too bad that Spence admitted it because fans will look at Crawford’s win differently, seeing him as a fighter who was given a handicap by facing a one-eyed fighter who wasn’t nearly 100%.
Given all the money that Spence stood to make for the fight last summer, it’s not a shock that he went through with it.
The Comeback Kid
Spence is ready to come back with a vengeance in his rematch with Crawford in the first quarter of this year, avenge the loss & expose Terence as never being as good as the casuals thought after his win last July.
With Errol’s vision back to new, he’s hungry for his get-back to put Crawford in his place at 154 to regain his throne as the top fighter in the sport.
Before that fight, Crawford was invisible to many boxing fans, a guy who had fought middle-of-the-road opposition for most of his 15-year professional career, preventing him from attaining the large fanbase that Errol had enjoyed.
How much of a factor was Spence’s eye injury in his fight with Crawford? Errol said he couldn’t see the jabs and hooks that Crawford was throwing, so he fought blind. No one will win a fight if they’re blind, and that’s the sad reality.
Crawford’s fans may not like that Spence has messed up their hero worship, making it clear that Errol’s eye injury aided Terence’s greatness, but that’s just how it is.
