Boxing
Errol Spence Jr. wants fight with either Manny Pacquiao or Terence Crawford in return
Questions arose about the boxing future of unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. after his horrific one-car accident in October. Spence, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, flipped his Ferrari multiple times at a high rate of speed and ended up flying out of his car. He also wound up being charged for DWI.
Spence had been earmarked to face Danny Garcia on Jan. 25, but that fight never occurred so he could recover from the minor injuries suffered. Now, his return to the ring has been further delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Appearing on the Premier Boxing Champion Instagram Live account, Spence says he has a ''second chance at living" with the new goal of becoming the undisputed welterweight champion of the world. To accomplish the feat, Spence will need to fight WBA titlist Manny Pacquiao and WBO titleholder Terence Crawford.
After Spence defeated Mikey Garcia in March 2019, Pacquiao entered the ring to tease a future matchup. Pacquiao chose to face Keith Thurman in July, instead. Boxing's only eight-division world champion put on his best performance to win by unanimous decision to claim the WBA crown.Â
"I didn't think he was going to look that good," Spence said. "I didn't think he was going to look like that. I would love to fight Pacquiao, he's a future legend, he's a Hall of Famer, he's a guy I would love to fight. He has a belt, too, I would love to get that belt.
"Me and Pacquiao would probably do 100,000 (fans) if we fought at AT&T Stadium," Spence added. "I think Pacquiao would be the perfect opponent."
Boxing fans have been clamoring for Crawford-Spence to be made. The obstacle is Crawford being promoted by Top Rank and Spence fighting under PBC. However, the fact that both promotional outfits worked well together on the February heavyweight title rematch between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder isn't lost on Spence.Â
"It's big, it just has to make sense," said Spence, "Just like Pacquiao and Floyd [Mayweather], it has to be all the money in the pot, and everybody has to get their fair share. So, as long as it makes sense money-wise, if it's big enough, then I think the fight will happen."
He's had conversations with his advisor Al Haymon about making the Crawford fight happen. If it comes to fruition, Crawford-Spence would be a battle of the top welterweights in the world, and perhaps the best the sport has to offer, period. That's precisely why Spence views a fight with Crawford as "legacy-defining."
"We both have the skillset, we both have the talent, both have the will," Spence said.
That said, Spence believes he'll serve Crawford with "The Truth" when the two eventually meet in the ring.
"But at the same time, at the end of the day," he continued, "I feel I'll wash Terence Crawford.
"I feel I'll beat him, out-punch him."
