LAS VEGAS – Errol Spence is in town on business, because lightweight contender Frank Martin fights under his Man Down management umbrella.
Spence has not boxed since his defeat to Terence Crawford last July at the T-Mobile Arena and he did not have much information on his immediate future, even though there’s speculation he is next to face Sebastian Fundora.
Nothing is locked in, however, and Spence is enjoying his work on the other side of the ropes.
Asked whether being involved in the big-fight promotion between Martin and WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis whet his appetite to fight again, Spence said, “Yeah, a little bit.”
But then the 34-year-old, who is 28-1 (22 KOs) as a pro, added: “But I like the promoter side. I feel like it might be my calling a little bit, being a promoter and looking at the young guys coming up and helping them get to the top of their level, because that’s where we at right now. He [Martin]’s at the top right now, and once he’s at the top, you’re the man.”
Spence is not certain how much longer he has left as an active fighter but, in all likelihood, he won’t be around for years and he has an eye on the endgame of his career already.
“Oh yeah for sure,” he said. “I’m not staying around until I’m walking out on my feet and looking crazy and talking crazy. Everything got to end, and sadly this has got to end, too.”
Is the damage side of sport something he has considered much?
“Oh yeah, for sure. We got to. You’ve got to worry about it because if you don’t you could be a victim, too. I definitely worry about it, have check-ups all the time and always monitor my brain and get scans and all type of stuff just to make sure I’m on point.”
It is not just Spence’s boxing career – amateur and pro – that give him pause for thought, but the horrendous car crash he was involved in when he flipped his supercar multiple times in October 2019. He was thrown from the vehicle and spent weeks in hospital. That adds to his concern.
“Oh yeah for sure,” Spence continued. “A lot of people take it lightly just because I came back and fought and all that but that’s serious stuff. It’s not too many people that go high speed in a Ferrari and get thrown from a Ferrari, land on solid concrete and still be here to talk today, still survive, still be coherent and everything.
“That was traumatic and a brutal experience that I went through. People take it lightly because I’m still fighting and still talk shit and all that but there was some serious stuff there. “It was definitely serious.”
Can he recall anything about it?
“I don’t remember nothing for probably three or four months.”
Did Spence comeback afterwards as Spence, or a different version?
“I probably came back as negative Spence,” he said.
Spence will be hoping for a more positive experience with Martin on Saturday at the MGM Grand against Davis. Martin is an underdog, and Davis casts a hefty shadow over all those he fights, not least because of his starpower. Spence is just fine about those writing Martin off. He just disagrees with them.
“Yeah they’re overlooking him, but that’s the name of the game,” Spence said. “They’re gonna overlook him because he’s not the guy yet. But once he beats him, he becomes the guy and everybody in past history says, ‘Ah man, he beat the guy’, just like anything else. “That’s what happens. Everybody is gonna say ‘Tank’ ain’t fight nobody until Frank shows everybody that he’s the guy.
“Tank never fought anybody with Frank’s skillset, his talent, his ability. Everybody he fought never had the talent like he has. You’ve got Ryan [Garcia], but Ryan was there to catch with him. That’s the only person that has somewhere the skillset of Frank.”
It is nearly a year since Spence was last in the ring, against Crawford who vies for top-billing as the best in the world today alongside Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk.
“I don’t look back on it too much. I mean, I got fucked up. That’s about it,” Spence said of Crawford, who he said was just as good as he expected.
“I’ve [always] been rating him high, I’ve rated him super high. It definitely wasn’t my night, but you know I definitely want to get that back.”
With Spence perhaps having an eye on the exit, would he be satisfied with his career? Initially he said no, because of Crawford, but then continued: “Oh yeah, shit. I take care of my family, I’m good. I’m gonna get out of the game unscathed and I feel like that’s a blessing in itself because a lot of these fighters don’t get out of the game unscathed.”