Errol Spence Jnr delivered a heartfelt, nearly two-hour-long conversation with Hall of Fame fighter Andre Ward on “All The Smoke Fight’s Art of Ward,” touching on his late-July showdown with Tim Tszyu and so much that has before it.
“I love the doubts, them saying I’m a shell of myself,” Spence, 28-1 (22 KOs), told Ward as he trains under new cornerman Ronnie Shields in Houston in preparation for the Prime Video pay-per-view bout against Tszyu, 27-3 (18 KOs), in Tszyu’s home country on July 25 in the U.S.
“I’m excited to show I am who I say I am.”
Former three-belt welterweight champion Spence, 36, hasn’t fought since his disastrous July 2023 multiple-knockdown loss by ninth-round TKO to now-retired five-division champion Terence Crawford.
Spence revealed to Ward that training camp for that bout was “all out of whack,” alleging that his longtime former trainer Derrick James supervised a camp loaded with mitt work but void of sparring for “six to seven weeks,” with no southpaws to emulate the double-handed power-punching Crawford.
“A lot of stuff went wrong… I was living wrong,” Spence said. “I’m still going to fight… I knew this maximum payout would take care of me and my family. I didn’t know if I was going to box again. It is what it is. Whatever criticism comes with it, comes with it.
“I was weak, depleted, out of it. I already knew a month out, ‘You’re doing this for your family. This could be bad, you’ve got to be a man.’”
The trouncing precipitated a long layoff that Spence admitted got “boring.”
He said he felt compelled to return to boxing because he feels he still can recapture the talent that was there at the height of his career, when he ventured to England to take the IBF belt from Kell Brook, when he defeated Shawn Porter in a 2019 fight-of-the-year contender and when he recovered from a horrific crash of his Porsche in Dallas to defeat welterweight champions Danny Garcia and Yordenis Ugas.
Reflecting on his alcohol use before that crash that left him without many teeth, with both eyes swollen shut and void of memory for about a month, Spence said, “It [drinking] wasn’t a crazy problem, but I was doing it at the wrong time… you shouldn’t be doing it while you’re driving. All these memories with my kids could be gone.”
He said he has since created a trust to ensure his family’s financial security.
‘Things happen for a reason. It made me the man I am today. I’m closer to my family, look out for people from my circle.”
Ward showed Spence an Instagram post after the crash in which Spence wrote, “No broken bones. I’m a savage.”
“That’s why I’m going to Australia,” to meet former 154-lbs champion Tszyu, he said. “It’s a dope experience to conquer someone in their own town.”
He said he’s fighting again after vacations to St. Martin, Aruba and the Dominican Republic because, “I realize I got something. I need some excitement. I know I’ve got a lot left.”
He admitted, “I might be done after this,” even as his promoter, Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, has the WBC 154-lbs champion Sebastian Fundora in its stable, and Jaron “Boots” Ennis, who’s fighting for Xander Zayas’ two belts on June 27, has longed to fight “The Big Fish,” Spence.
“I want to be 100% on what I’m doing,” the Texan said. “You’ve gotta know when to fold ‘em. But I’m excited. This is like my pro debut.”
Ward closed the talk by praising Spence for how he behaved “when you weren’t on top. When life starts life-ing, who are you?”
