By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Errol Spence Jr. doesn’t think Manny Pacquiao would shy away from fighting him.

The new IBF welterweight champion isn’t so sure, though, that Pacquiao’s handlers would welcome that 147-pound championship unification fight. The 27-year-old Spence (22-0, 19 KOs) figures they’ll want to keep Pacquiao away from him because the Filipino superstar is 39 and far removed from his physical prime.  

“I don’t think Pacquiao cares who he fights,” Spence said Thursday during an informal luncheon with reporters in Manhattan. “Maybe Bob Arum [Pacquiao’s promoter] probably don’t want that fight. But Pacquiao will fight anybody. I don’t think he really cares who he fights.”

The timing would align for a Pacquiao-Spence fight in the fall if Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs), the WBO welterweight champion, defeats Australian contender Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs) on July 2 in Brisbane. Arum has said he wants Pacquiao to fight again in November, a time frame that would suit Spence because WBA/WBC 147-pound champion Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC) is recovering from April 19 elbow surgery and might not return to the ring until early in 2018.

“I think that’d be a great fight,” Spence said. “Pacquiao’s a guy who doesn’t box, so he’s gonna come forward and he’s gonna throw. I think it’d be an exciting fight.”

Spence added that while challenging Pacquiao is “not necessarily” a fight he has long thought about, “I just see that he’s a big name, he’s a Hall-of-Famer and he has one of the belts. That’s about it.

“I would want Keith first, but that’s a fight that I don’t mind having happen. You’ve gotta ask [Showtime’s] Stephen [Espinoza] if that fight’s realistic.”

Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager for Showtime Sports, is interested in televising Spence-Pacquiao, which he called “a great fight.” He doesn’t think premium-cable politics would prohibit it from happening because Pacquiao-Horn will be the second straight Pacquiao fight that hasn’t involved HBO, Showtime’s rival.

Like Spence, he’s just not sure a hungry, young, powerful fighter like Spence is someone Pacquiao’s team would seriously consider matching him against.

“The real question is Manny Pacquiao’s team, are they still looking for the top-tier level of competition?,” Espinoza said. “I don’t think it’s a network issue or anything like that. Does he wanna fight a young guy, in his prime, at this stage in his career?

“Pacquiao’s a fighter and fighters will fight anybody. A fighter’s never gonna tell you [otherwise]. But the people around him, are they gonna keep it with the Jeff Horns? Or wanna step him up to a guy like Spence?”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.