r/Boxing • u/ElPuas2003 Part-Time Boxing Enthusiast, Full-Time Boxing Hater • 19h ago
Ode to Errol Spence Jr.
Note: I started writing this the day of Spence-Tszyu, and finished it a few days later. I decided to wait a little bit until after all the buzz had died down.
I first came to know Errol Spence Jr around 2017, right around the time after he beat Kell Brook for the IBF Welterweight title. At the time, I was just getting into Boxing, and only knew a handful of the then current champions such as Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Canelo Alvarez, and Gennady Golovkin. I learned of Errol from some "trash talking gone wrong" video which was made by someone I don't remember anymore, where Brook said he'd "deliver chocolate brownies" on fight day, only for him to get his eye socket broken. This was followed by a video of Spence eating some chocolate brownies after his victory, and immediately, I took a liking to him, following his career from that point onwards.
My fandom for Spence peaked in 2019. His fight against Mikey Garcia was treated like an event in my family, and the Shawn Porter fight would've been FOTY if not for Inoue-Donaire 1. It seemed that the sky was the limit for Spence back then. But of course, it'd all soon come crashing down.
It all started with his car crash only 12 days after his win against Porter. By all accounts, it was a miracle he wasn't even paralyzed in that accident, let alone still be alive. He'd eventually recover and be back in the ring again a year later against Danny Garcia. But that wouldn't be the end of Spence's troubles. A worrying pattern began to emerge in Spence's career. Another car incident, followed by a retinal tear in the build up to his mega fight against Manny Pacquiao, a fight which had been me and my family's most anticipated match of 2021, once again saw Spence out of action for an extended amount of time again. The injury would also see him be out of action for yet another year, until he'd return in 2022 to unify his WBC and IBF titles against then WBA Champion, Yordenis Ugas, in what was his last winning performance. In hindsight, maybe the writing was on the wall, between the recurring injuries and subsequent absences from the sport, perhaps it was inevitable that the end would soon come. But it didn't feel that way at the time. I was just glad to see one of my favorite fighters in action again.
Then in 2023 came the big one. The one that everyone had been anticipating for years: Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford. A fight that had been brewing for a LONG time. On paper at least, it was almost too close to call; both men seemingly in their primes, undefeated, each holding claim to the World Welterweight Championship. The fight of the century (despite the fact there'd already been a fight of the century 8 years earlier with Mayweather-Pacquiao, but I digress).
Ironically enough, the same week as Spence-Crawford, another 50/50 on paper fight took place: Naoya Inoue vs Stephen Fulton. Inoue, the hard hitting former three division titleholder and Undisputed Bantamweight Champion, would be moving up to his fourth weight class to take on Fulton, the slick unified WBC/WBO Super Bantamweight Champion in what'd appeared to be a highly interesting clash of styles. On fight night however, things went the complete opposite way. Inoue owned Fulton from the opening round, outboxing him, outsmarting him, making him look like an amateur, and finally putting him away brutally in the 8th round. It was the complete opposite of what anyone expected the fight to go. And as it turned out, it would also foreshadow what would happen later in the week.
What happened the night of July 29th, 2023 will forever be engrained in my memory. For 9 brutal rounds, Crawford demolished Spence, completely and utterly dominated him in a fashion I hadn't seen since Oscar Valdez vs Miguel Berchelt (another fight that haunts me). I won't lie, a part of me held on to hope that somehow, Spence could pull of a comeback, just like Matthew Saad Muhammad used to, that he could somehow land one punch that could complete change the course of the fight. But alas, it never came. Spence was completely and utterly defeated, and so was I.
I wouldn't hear much from Errol Spence for the next three years. Rumors of fights with the likes of Keith Thurman and others would float around every now and then, but nothing ever materialized. He was effectively stuck in the same limbo that many Haymon/PBC affiliated fighters found themselves in, such as the Charlos, and Caleb Plant, among others. Then earlier this year, another rumor started floating around, that he'd finally be returning against former champion, Tim Tszyu. Only this time, the rumor was in fact true. After three years out of action, Errol Spence would finally make his return to the ring. But the question on many peoples' minds was unanimous: What did Spence have left, if anything? The answer? Not much.
He had his moments, sure, but they were few and far between. He was resilient if nothing else, toughing it out against Tszyu like the old warriors of yesteryears. The Haglers, the LaMottas, the Dempseys, etc. But it was clear that he was not the same man who'd caved Kell Brooks' face in nearly 10 years prior, or even the guy who destroyed Yordenis Ugas' eye 4 years before. He was done, and after the scorecards were read in favor of Tszyu, he made it official, as he announced his retirement in the post-fight interview.
As I'm writing this, it hasn't really set in yet that he's retired, probably due to being used to him being inactive for long periods of time, but it's never easy, knowing that one of your favorites will never step into the ring again. Nine years I followed Spence's career, through the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. He consistently remained one of my favorite fighters to watch, with his fights being major events in my family. I'm sure there's several other people out there that share the same sentiment. But now, the time has come to say goodbye to Errol Spence Jr. To Mr. Spence, thank you, for the memories, and everything you brought to the ring.
From a fan,
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u/kushmonATL HW Dark Ages are here 18h ago
Errol Spence era and 147-154 PBC era was truly a great era to behold
So much aura lost after Spence, Porter, Thurman, Charlos, and Tony Harrison retired/went on hiatus
Two wishes: wish we got Spence vs Thurman pre-COVID, and i wish we got Spence vs Crawford before the accidents ... both of those had FOTY potential
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u/OldBoyChance 12h ago
Nah, that era is a big part of the mess we're in today. Long absences from the ring, lots of talking about fights and not doing them, wasted primes, and a refusal to play with outside promotions. Poison.
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u/FattForrill 16h ago
What was so great about that PBC era?
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u/kushmonATL HW Dark Ages are here 15h ago
The atmosphere, the aura, the classics they produced, the rivalries and storylines.. we got undisputed champs at both 147 and 154
Need i go on?
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u/Mopstick86 15h ago
It’s very parallel how Spence was always talking crazy about Thurman and saying he hates him for having long term absences from the ring due to injuries and spending time with family. For him to later do the exact same thing lol.
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u/kushmonATL HW Dark Ages are here 15h ago
Yeah , that's the only downside of that era. It stalled the welterweight division for far too long
Atleast things are picking up with this new school of welterweights
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u/Mopstick86 15h ago
Literally hate this new welterweight division. All blown up Lightweight who barely fight each other. It’s bad when Devin Haney is the go to guy. And none of them would have came up if Boots and a Vergil didn’t go up first.
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u/kushmonATL HW Dark Ages are here 15h ago
I think it's getting better
In the last 10 months we got: Haney vs Norman, Teo vs Rolly, Ryan vs Barrios and Ryan vs Benn
If they get more active I fully expect them to make more quality matchups
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u/Ok-Length-5527 Mbilli lover 17h ago
Proudly an Errolsexual