If Errol Spence sees his wish list come to life, then his goal of becoming undisputed welterweight champion will occur within his next three fights.
However long it takes, though, will determine how long the unified titlist remains put.
“Until I finish my goal and my goal is to become undisputed welterweight champion of the world,” Spence (26-0, 21KOs) confirmed during a recent interview on the Instagram Live channel of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), hosted by Ray Flores. “Once I become undisputed, then I’ll see about moving up.
“Until then, I ain’t going nowhere. I don’t care if I have to cut a leg off (to make weight).”
Like everyone else in boxing, Spence is awaiting marching orders for his next fight amidst a sports world largely on hold. The ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to have a global effect, specifically in the U.S. boxing scene which saw its last piece of action in mid-March.
Shows have been postponed or canceled outright ever since then, while fighters such as Spence who were eyeing yet-to-be-announced fights are forced to push out their schedule even further. The 30-year old from Desoto, Texas was due to face mandatory challenger Danny Garcia, initially scheduled for January only to be put on hold after Spence sustained extensive injuries following a single car crash last October.
Now fully recovered, the plan is to pick up where he left off. All along the idea was to face and defeat Philadelphia’s Garcia (36-2, 21KOs), then target showdowns with fellow titlists Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39KOs) and Terence Crawford (36-0, 27KOs), presumably in that order.
“It’s a fight that makes sense,” Spence said of his ordered mandatory defense versus Garcia, a former two-division champ. “Danny Garcia is a very tough fighter. He’s accomplished a lot in the sport of boxing. That’s a fight that can happen next.
“Manny Pacquiao looked great against Keith Thurman. I knew he was going to look good; I didn’t think he would look like that. I would love to fight Manny Pacquiao. He’s a legend, he’s a future Hall of Famer. He got that belt. My goal is to be undisputed champion of the world. He’s got that belt unless he vacates it.”
What the schedule won’t allow for, is fights that won’t lead to that goal. That means any hopes of a rematch with Shawn Porter—whom Spence edged out in their thrilling title unification clash in his most recent bout last September—remains strictly a pipe dream. Nor should former welterweight titlist Keith Thurman expect a call anytime soon.
“He’s not even on my radar,” Spence notes of Thurman, a former unbeaten, unified titlist from Clearwater, Florida. “I feel he’s not even on my level. I’m concentrating on Manny Pacquiao, Danny Garcia. I’m not worried about Keith Thurman.
“A (Porter) intrigues me but there are so many other fights that haven’t happened yet. You got Danny Garcia, Manny Pacquiao, Terence Crawford. Shawn Porter goes kind of back to the other side.
“Until I beat Danny Garcia, Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquiao… I already beat Shawn Porter and don’t really need to fight him again.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox