{"id":751976,"date":"2026-06-22T02:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T02:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/751976\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T02:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T02:21:10","slug":"boxing-news-boxing-legends-sergio-mora-shane-mosley-fear-for-errol-spence-jr-ahead-of-tim-tszyu-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/751976\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxing news: Boxing legends Sergio Mora, Shane Mosley fear for Errol Spence Jr ahead of Tim Tszyu showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two American former world champions have raised concerns about Errol Spence Jr\u2019s comeback against Tim Tszyu, warning the boxing superstar might be heading for heartbreak in Australia.<\/p>\n

Just five weeks out from the blockbuster showdown in Sydney<\/a>, Sergio Mora and Shane Mosley have both questioned whether Spence can return at an elite level against a dangerous opponent in Tszyu.<\/p>\n

Paro v Crocker | Wednesday June 24 from 7pm AEST | Liam Paro gets his long awaited title shot against IBF welterweight champion, Lewis Crocker plus Nelson Asofa-Solomona vs George Burgess. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports ><\/a><\/p>\n

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The concerns come as Spence prepares for his first fight since being dominated by Terence Crawford in July 2023, with the former welterweight king returning straight into a showdown against the Aussie star without so much as a tune-up fight.<\/p>\n

Mora, who has followed Spence\u2019s career closely as a fighter, commentator and analyst, delivered a particularly grim assessment. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing it for money,\u201d Mora said on Boxing with Mannix and Mora<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing it for the payday, he\u2019s doing it because he\u2019s been inactive for three years. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis man has endured a horrendous car accident, flipping his Ferrari over that should have killed him, he escaped that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen a horrendous beat down put on him by Crawford, and then the lifestyle that he lives outside the ring hasn\u2019t been the cleanest\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

While Mora stressed that Spence was one of the best fighters of his generation and a future Hall of Famer, he believes the American is no longer the same man who once ruled the welterweight division.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not that guy anymore,\u201d Mora said.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest warning signs, according to the former WBC champion, is the way Spence now talks about life beyond boxing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when you know they are not thinking about boxing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not thinking about legacy. They are not thinking about putting their health on the line anymore, because they\u2019ve been doing it too long, and they know they\u2019re one punch away from being a vegetable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds harsh, but it\u2019s the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sergio Mora, Errol Spence and Shane MosleySource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

Veteran boxing scribe Chris Mannix agreed with some of Mora\u2019s concerns, admitting he struggles to see a positive outcome for his countryman. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe only question is how does he lose?\u201d said Mannix.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes he get beat violently? Or is he competitive and it goes to a decision?\u201d <\/p>\n

Mora again doubled down on his belief that Spence is chasing one final payday \u2013 and warned it could come at a heavy cost. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not going to end well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to pay that price in blood…<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you hear Errol Spence talk, he\u2019s always talked slow, you know that old Southern way of talking, but he sounds punchy now. It\u2019s concerning…<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he\u2019s in the Hall of Fame. I just hope that he can give a speech, a clear speech in the Hall of Fame, instead of chasing the last payday and really getting seriously hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another red flag for Mora is the style Spence has built his career around. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hate that earmuff defense. It\u2019s bound to catch up to him, and if he fights Tszyu, it\u2019s not going to be nice, man. I think he did so much for boxing as an Olympian and as a champion, and he\u2019s given so many great fights against great names.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, it\u2019s going to be tragic for him to go up against Tim Tszyu and take a beating on foreign soil like that. I don\u2019t want to see it. I wish him the best, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mora isn\u2019t the only former world champion who has concerns.<\/p>\n

Hall of Famer Shane Mosley has also questioned whether Spence can return to his best after the damage sustained in both his horror car crash and the Crawford defeat.<\/p>\n

Appearing on the MillCity Boxing podcas<\/a>t, Mosley said the biggest unknown wasn\u2019t what Spence could do offensively \u2013 but how he would respond when the punches started coming in his direction.<\/p>\n

‘I wanted to go to Australia’ | 02:05<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s strong hitting the bag and such, but what about receiving,\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about the receipts? How is the body going to take the receipts?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen how good he looks hitting, what about getting hit back?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. We\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

But not everyone is writing Spence off.<\/p>\n

One man backing the former champ to defy the doubters is his old rival, former undisputed welterweight king Terence Crawford.<\/p>\n

Despite handing Spence the lone defeat of his pro career in their blockbuster showdown three years ago, Crawford has repeatedly insisted his former foe remains a top fighter.<\/p>\n

Last week, Spence sat down with Andre Ward for an in-depth interview in which he reflected on the Crawford loss, admitting his preparation for the fight was \u201ctrash\u201d.<\/p>\n

While some fans accused Spence of making excuses for the defeat, Crawford quickly moved to shut down that narrative and publicly threw his support behind the Texan.<\/p>\n

Card confirmed for Tszyu v Spence Jnr | 00:52<\/p>\n

Taking to X over the weekend, Crawford wrote: \u201cStill wishing @ErrolSpenceJr the best in his upcoming fight. I see what yall trying to do, but it\u2019s not going to work, not this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Crawford not only tipped Spence to beat Tszyu \u2013 he put his money where his mouth is, reportedly wagering $10,000 on the result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two American former world champions have raised concerns about Errol Spence Jr\u2019s comeback against Tim Tszyu, warning the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-751976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}