Errol Spence Jr. posted on social media today, hinting at a return to the ring at 154 or 160 for his next fight. The former unified welterweight champion Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) posted on Instram, saying, “154-160.”
Spence hasn’t fought since losing to Terence Crawford by a ninth-round knockout 14 months ago on July 29, 2023, and he needs to get back in the ring already if he’s to take advantage of the time he has left.
In the last two fights at 147, Spence has looked drained, making weight. So, it might be wise for him to bypass the 154-lb division and go straight to 160.
Spence would also likely be drained at 154 because he looked skeletal at the weigh-in for his fights against Crawford and Yordenis Ugas. He did not perform well in either of those fights, making Crawford look better than he had in many years.
We saw Crawford’s true form in his recent fight against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd, and it’s obvious that his win over Spence last year was more a result of Errol being weakened from weight loss to get down from the 190+ lbs he began training camp at.
The better-paying fight for Spence would be challenging Sebastian Fundora for his WBC and WBO junior middleweight titles. However, the money that Spence would get for that fight might not be worth it if he’s beaten up and knocked out due to him being too weak after getting down to 154 at the weigh-in.
At 34, Spence isn’t young enough to bounce back after draining him down to 154 and then quickly rehydrating to 170+ lbs overnight.
If Spence moves up to 160, he would have these excellent fights available to him:
- Carlos Adames: WBC
- Erislandy Lara: WBA
- Janibek Alimkhanuly: IBF and WBO
- Chris Eubank Jr
- Hamzah Sheeraz
Moving up to 160 would put Spence in a position to get picked by Canelo Alvarez for a giant payday if he can capture a belt first or beat the still semi-popular British fighter Eubank Jr. Spence would be betting on himself if he moved up to 160 because he would be giving up on a sure-thing payday against Fundora at 154.
Again, that would be making a deal with the devil if Spence fought at 154 because he’s too big for that weight class. So whatever money he gets for his next fight wouldn’t be worth it because he’ll likely lose, and his career would be dust.
Read the full article here
