Boxing
Errol Spence Jr. says he wants Manny Pacquiao fight after handling Shawn Porter
Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford is the fight at welterweight that boxing fans want to see most.
However, Spence says after he defeats Shawn Porter in a title unification bout on Sept. 28 that he has another opponent in mind to face next — none other than Manny Pacquiao.
“I’m looking for the Manny Pacquiao fight after this,” Spence told TMZ Sports on Sunday. “I definitely want the Manny Pacquiao (fight). He’s a Hall of Famer, he’s a legend, he fought the best fighters of my era and the past era.”
Although Pacquiao looked brilliant in disposing of Keith Thurman by split decision last month, the WBA welterweight champion and Filipino Senator is 40-years-old, so there’s an element of urgency involved to catch the legend in the ring before he calls it a career.
“You never know when Pacquiao is going to retire, so I definitely want to get that fight,” the 29-year-old Spence added. “Definitely.”
This isn’t the first time that Spence has called out Pacquiao for a fight. After thoroughly dominating Mikey Garcia in March, the IBF welterweight champion invited Pacquiao into the ring and publicly said that it’d be an “honor” to face the boxing legend next.
To that, Pacquiao said, “Yeah, why not? We’ll give the fans a good fight.”
But from there, Pacquiao fought Thurman next and Spence cemented the unification bout with WBC titleholder Porter.
It’s not that Spence (25-0, 21 KOs) is overlooking Porter (30-2-1, 17 KOs) for Pacquiao. “The Truth” is just ultra confident that he’ll leave the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 28 with two welterweight straps in tow.
“I’m going to take his belt,” Spence also told TMZ Sports. “It’s going to be a great fight, it’s going to be action-packed. He’s blood and guts, I know he’s going to come to fight. He’s a warrior, he’s not going to stop until I knock him out, so be on the lookout for that.”
If that happens, perhaps Spence and Pacquiao will meet for three titles.
