By Keith Idec
Errol Spence Jr. has given a detailed confirmation of one of the worst-kept sparring secrets in boxing.
Spence told Showtime’s Mark Kriegel for an episode of “The Reveal” that he hurt Adrien Broner so bad during a sparring session a few years ago that it had to be stopped.
“Basically, we were sparring and I hit him with a good, clean shot, and he got hurt,” Spence told Kriegel.
Then Kriegel asked if the sparring session had to be stopped.
“Yeah,” Spence replied.
The 27-year-old Spence previously has acknowledged that he hurt Broner in sparring. Spence (21-0, 18 KOs) went into more detail with Kriegel for a segment Showtime will use to promote Spence’s first title shot, a 12-round fight against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs). They’ll fight May 27 at Bramall Lane, a soccer stadium in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England.
Spence, who is friendly with Broner, chalked up hurting the former four-division champion as just one of those things that occurs during sparring.
“Stuff like this happens in the gym all the time,” Spence explained. “Yeah, it’s harder [with bigger gloves and headgear], but it happens all the time in the gym.”
Legendary trainer Freddie Roach, who witnessed the Broner-Spence sparring that resulted in Broner in getting hurt, detailed it to BoxingScene.com in November 2014.
“[Spence is] a very good fighter and he knocked out Adrien Broner in the gym,” Roach said. “I was there. He was out. It’s not a lie. Broner had no idea where he was. He didn’t go down, but he was walking around [out on his feet] and they had to stop it.
“Then Broner wanted to finish and they wouldn’t let him finish. And then it almost turned into a street fight.”
To watch the Spence-Kriegel interview in its entirety, click here: To see the entire interview, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9p1uAH9WPw&feature=youtu.be
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.