Mike Tyson has advised Errol Spence Jr. to move on from his defeat to Terence Crawford by getting back in the ring.
Long Island’s Spence, 34, is yet to make his long-awaited return to action following a ninth round TKO defeat to Terence Crawford at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in July last year. Spence suffered three knockdowns and took a brutal, prolonged beating in the fight, which most viewed as 50-50 going in. The win made Crawford the first undisputed welterweight champion of the four-belt era.
Tyson, a former undisputed heavyweight champion, said the ability to come back from a defeat makes one a great fighter.
“The sky’s the limit, man. That doesn’t mean nothing,” Tyson said on the Come And Talk To Me podcast. “A loss to somebody like that means nothing. He can still make a lot of money if he returns.”
Talks commenced for a possible rematch between Crawford and Spence, but the potential 154-pound contest broke down after a cataract surgery on Spence’s right eye. The rematch failing to materialize forced Crawford to move up to junior middleweight, where he challenged and defeated Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov, securing the WBA title in the process.
Spence could also climb to 154 to face WBC and WBO junior middleweight titlist Sebastian Fundora next. He could even venture further north in weight to challenge the likes of middleweight champions Erislandy Lara (WBA), Carlos Adames (WBC) and Janibek Alimkhanuly (WBO) at 160.
With Spence yet to activate any of these available options, Tyson criticized fighters of today for getting discouraged after their first defeat.
“That’s what life’s about. You just don’t get discouraged. Fighting emulates life. In life, we’re gonna lose whatever. You’ll lose your job, you’ll lose your mother, lose your teeth, lose your hair and gotta continue to live and to navigate.
“Now, they’re not experienced fighters. they’re not professionals. A professional fighter like this, if you’re my friend and you’re the hottest fighter in the world right now, fight me.
“Give me help and let me make some money for my family. Spence and Crawford fought and now they went to their separate banks happy. We’re taking care of our families now.
“We’re doing better than we did before we had to fight. I look at it as business. This is business.”
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].
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