American former unified champion offered potential comeback opponent.
There was a time when Errol Spence Jr. was considered one of the best fighters not just in America, but in the entire world. Indeed, the man known as ‘The Truth’ once occupied a spot in the top-ten pound-for-pound rankings, held three of the four major titles at welterweight, and had one of the most excitingly aggressive and active styles of any fighter in the sport.
In fact, there were plenty who believed him to be the very best in his weight class, and there was only one man who could rival that claim.
The answer to who that one man was is the same as the answer to when people ask the question, “What happened to Errol Spence Jr.?”
Terence Crawford.
A fight between Crawford and Spence was one coveted by boxing fans for quite some time. The two best at their weight, both from America, for the undisputed championship? It was a no-brainer.
Yet because boxing is the way it is, it took too long to make. There’s letting a fight marinate, and then there’s leaving it to drown. Boxing still hasn’t quite found the in-between as of yet.
But fortunately, Crawford-Spence wasn’t quite left to drown. Maybe just soaked for a bit longer than necessary. Still, in an era that was so used to the biggest fights not getting made, months away from Riyadh Season’s proper entry into the sport, a fight that everyone had been asking for was finalised at last.
Crawford was 39-0 with 30 KOs. Spence was 28-0 with 22 KOs. Between them, they held all the belts and were long established as two of the best fighters in boxing.
A prediction of who would win could not be more split amongst fans and pundits alike. It was truly considered the most 50-50 affair to grace the sport in quite some time.
The reality? Spence ended up being dropped three times and stopped in nine rounds.
Practically nobody foresaw such an outcome, and seeing it happen was as surprising as it was incredible. The fight had a rematch clause in place, but it had been so one-sided that a sequel was barely entertained.
Fans theorised that Spence’s performance could be down to his struggle to continue making weight, or maybe it was the two serious car accidents he had gotten into not too long previously.
Was there truth to any of it? It didn’t matter. Spence’s dismantling could perhaps be explained, but it could not be undone.
Since then, Crawford has moved up and won titles in two more divisions, becoming undisputed at super-middleweight and seemingly exiting the sport on his own terms.
As for Spence? Nothing.
In over two-and-a-half years, Spence has not fought since. Many have called for his retirement, and while one loss certainly does not necessarily mean the end of a career, there were those who felt that this was one instance where maybe it did.
Fights up at super-welterweight were also rumoured, with a title challenge against Sebastian Fundora being negotiated before ultimately breaking down.
More recently, Spence has been linked to bouts with Jermell Charlo and even Vergil Ortiz Jr. However, nothing has advanced much beyond initial reports.
Now a new potential opponent has been mentioned for Spence’s comeback fight.
In a recent interview with BoxingScene, Matt Rose of No Limit Boxing was discussing fights for Tim Tszyu when he said, “There’s always fights to be made for Tim, like Errol Spence, but there’s a lot you’ve got to go through to get to that point.”
He further stated, “There’s a few things to play out, I think, but do I like the Spence fight? It’s a great fight. It’s a great name. It’s a legacy-type fight. So, if we’re able to achieve that, that’d be fantastic. But at this stage, there’s still a fair bit to happen for that to even get close.”
Tim Tszyu (son of former super-lightweight champion Kostya Tszyu) has faced his own series of challenges in his career. After storming through Carlos Ocampo in one round, Tszu won the WBO interim super-welterweight title, which was later upgraded to the full trinket.
Following a defence against the iron-jawed Brian Mendoza, Tszyu had a scheduled fight with Keith Thurman fall through, which opened the door for a WBC and WBO title fight with Sebastian Fundora.
Fundora was actually coming off a knockout loss to Brian Mendoza, but following a nasty cut that impeded Tszyu’s vision, Fundora was able to outbox Tszyu at length to become unified champion.
Given that Tszyu had been greatly hampered by the cut in the fight (which was caused by a head-on collision with Fundora’s elbow), many put the loss down to little more than bad luck. But when Tszyu suffered a terrible beating at the hands of IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev that saw him get stopped in three rounds in his very next fight, people began to think that the Fundora fight had taken a far bigger toll on him than was previously thought.
Tszyu then looked good in stopping Joey Spencer, but was stopped in a rematch with Fundora immediately after.
Though Tszyu has beaten Anthony Velazquez since then, there remain countless questions as to how much he still has left. And so, a fight with Errol Spence Jr. makes sense in many ways.
It’s very clear that Tim Tszyu has lost something that made him the whirlwind he initially appeared to be, but has the man once known as ‘The Soul Taker’ had his soul taken?
Perhaps ‘The Truth’ shall be revealed in due course.
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