Errol Spence Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs) has opened up about the disastrous preparation that preceded his undisputed welterweight title fight vs. Terence Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs), in which Spence was knocked out in the 9th round.
Spence, who suffered his first career defeat in the 2023 title fight, conceded. that his training camp was far from where it needed to be while insisting Crawford still earned the victory.
“I mean, in training camp, training camp was trash at the end of the day. Ask anybody who was in Vegas in that gym. They didn’t see me sparring. Ain’t nobody see me sparring. Two weeks out, two, three weeks out, I didn’t spar six weeks out,” Spence
Spence also disclosed that he was carrying a rib injury into the fight. However, the most damaging was the admission that Crawford’s ability to switch between orthodox and southpaw stances — one of his most dangerous weapons — was never properly addressed in camp.
“I had to get a cortisone shot in my ribs because my ribs were hurting. We ain’t do none of that in training camp. It was a lot of stuff that could have been different or could have been prevented. Even if I wasn’t sparring like that, we could have prevented a lot of things that shouldn’t have happened,” Spence
Spence and Tim Tszyu are scheduled to meet on July 26 in Australia, with the winner being lined up as a potential opponent for Jermell Charlo.