Can anyone explain Errol Spence's layoff?

[N/A]

He won the title in May of 2017 and his first defense is in January of 2018. Now before anyone accuses me of anything, I'm not blaming Haymon or PBC or anything like that. I honestly just want to know what the hell happened.

Most top fighters fight once or twice a year (usually twice).

Spence fought at the very very end of May, meaning a normal TV schedule would have him returning in early December (which was the plan).

Then Showtime decided to take December off, so Spence got pushed back to January and was told by Showtime he could have 3 dates in 2018 to make up for it.

So his January fight will really count as his second 2017 fight as far as Showtime is concerned, and they'll still give him two additional fights later in the year.

[BoxingIsGreat]

Wanted to give you green but can't. Great post here ^^^^

Thanks my man. I'm just frustrated and might soon turn out to be a big Spence hater! Hahaha...

[j.razor]

He won the title in May of 2017 and his first defense is in January of 2018. Now before anyone accuses me of anything, I'm not blaming Haymon or PBC or anything like that. I honestly just want to know what the hell happened. There are no injuries that I knew of. Spence seemed eager to fight too, so I can't blame him. I do think that was too much time off given the circumstances. In my opinion, they needed to build off that huge win. It's not good to be on the shelf as a young champion, especially if you're trying to become a star and everyone seems to be avoiding you. Staying active will give him the better chance of securing the big fights he wants. I'm a huge fan of Spence. I hope this isn't going to be a trend.

It's what you are doing, trying to put a cast over the good in boxing with Haymon or PBC.

He fought he won, fighters don't want to get in the ring with him (LP had to dropped his title to fight Errol which says a lot about a true champ like LP) but if he was the bank then they would want to fight Errol....& he has a fight coming up next month so why would you really ask & not just wait for the event?

Why didn't you ask about Jessie Vargas when he was with bob? Why didn't you ask when Tim Bradley was with bob before he ended up retiring??

[soul_survivor]

Well its the problem with all Haymon fighters isnt it? PBC have so few dates in a year, especially on channels in the US that would have the finances to host a big fight. Its a sad failed experiment.

[KillaMane26]

I don't care what nobody says....PBC is not good at taking there fighters to next level. Thurman, Spence should be bigger than they are now. Idk

[Willy Wanker]

remember you all said ward was ducking krusher?

I agree, great point. Ward ducking Kovalev is the reason Spence hasn't fought in eight months.

[Ray*]

Thanks my man. I'm just frustrated and might soon turn out to be a big Spence hater! Hahaha...

I just like posters that tells it like it is, you are one of those posters, if it applies to GGG then it can apply to spence. Am a big spence fan but i definitely agree with you.

[Afi23]

Most top fighters fight once or twice a year (usually twice).

Spence fought at the very very end of May, meaning a normal TV schedule would have him returning in early December (which was the plan).

Then Showtime decided to take December off, so Spence got pushed back to January and was told by Showtime he could have 3 dates in 2018 to make up for it.

So his January fight will really count as his second 2017 fight as far as Showtime is concerned, and they'll still give him two additional fights later in the year.

Thank you! Any inside info on the 3.5 mil?

[Afi23]

Thurman and Garcia got $2M each. $4M total. Not hard to see Spence $3.5M Peterson 500K. $4M total. Especially because GBP was offering Spence a contract that included a Cotto fight. Showtime had to put up some money and the budget starts fresh at each new year.

It might be true but IF Spence rate is already at 3.5 mil, I see why a Thurman unification needs some "marinating". It is safe to say that Spence won't take a paycut and Thurman, who brings 2 belts won't fight for less than Spence, so it is a 7mil fight at the minimum. I think it is safe to say that this would be a PPV fight to make the money work (not saying the fight is truly a PPV fight at this point).
If Showtime doesn't want to make a PPV at a loss, the fight needs to be build up so we might indeed be looking at Spence vs Thurman in 2019.
Once again, my analysis is based on Spence's 3,5 mil (which seems a bit high to me at this point of Spence's career).

[Ray*]

It might be true but IF Spence rate is already at 3.5 mil, I see why a Thurman unification needs some "marinating". It is safe to say that Spence won't take a paycut and Thurman, who brings 2 belts won't fight for less than Spence, so it is a 7mil fight at the minimum. I think it is safe to say that this would be a PPV fight to make the money work (not saying the fight is truly a PPV fight at this point).
If Showtime doesn't want to make a PPV at a loss, the fight needs to be build up so we might indeed be looking at Spence vs Thurman in 2019.
Once again, my analysis is based on Spence's 3,5 mil (which seems a bit high to me at this point of Spence's career).

This is the part were a lot of poster dont seem to get, yes we all aren't getting paid from their purses, but understanding how the economics works helps when accusing boxers of "ducking".

Who would blame Thurman or spence if they turn around mid-2018 and say we want more than 4 million dollars?

Which means that fight would need some marinating like you pointed out.