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Errol Spence Jr. is stepping out of the shadows and back into the ring after taking a three-year hiatus following his first professional loss against Terence Crawford in 2023.<\/p>\n
Tom Fox\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
STAFFORD, Texas\u00a0\u2014 Errol Spence Jr. left boxing with unanswered questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Spence, a DeSoto native, wanted to find peace in his life after the sport he loved left him mentally and physically battered. \u00a0His lifestyle\u00a0\u2014 drinking and driving fast cars\u00a0\u2014 also put his physical well-being at risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been three years, but Spence said he\u2019s found peace and a renewed love for the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Spence is scheduled to fight against Tim Tszyu on Saturday in a 12-round, 154-pound middleweight fight in Sydney, Australia<\/a>.\u00a0Tszyu (27-3, 18 knockouts) is one of the most talented fighters in boxing. \u00a0<\/p>\n Spence aims to remind Tszyu of where he used to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n On July 29, 2023, Spence was undefeated going into a major bout against Terence Crawford. The lead-up and the result of that fight raised questions about Spence’s fitness and preparation. Even now, the answers remain murky.\u00a0<\/p>\n Errol Spence Jr. sits in his corner during the undisputed welterweight championship boxing match against Terence Crawford, Saturday, July 29, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo\/John Locher)<\/p>\n John Locher\/ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n Mysterious injury<\/p>\n Spence calls himself The Shark in the boxing ring because he\u2019s in search of the big fish. Going into the Crawford fight, he had compiled an undefeated record (28-0, 22 knockouts) as he dominated the welterweight division. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He was one of the top fighters, not only from the Dallas-Fort Worth area but in the sport overall.\u00a0<\/p>\n That night in Las Vegas, Crawford destroyed Spence<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n The undefeated Crawford, from Omaha, Neb., knocked down Spence three times before the fight was stopped by TKO in the ninth round. All three judges saw the one-sided fight for Crawford at the time of the stoppage, scoring it 79-70. \u00a0<\/p>\n Spence looked as if he were in a daze. He wasn\u2019t a Shark. He looked more like a guppie against one of the top fighters in the sport<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n After that victory, Crawford moved up in weight, fighting twice before retiring after a dominating victory over Canelo Alvarez in September 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The loss sent him\u00a0into self-reflection. He called it retirement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor sure, that\u2019s why I don\u2019t take nothing back,\u201d Spence said in late June after a day of training. \u201cEverything I went through, basically, I had to look into myself to find peace, find gratitude, find happiness and I feel like I found that. I\u2019m happy. I\u2019m living life. I\u2019m not scared to retire because I know I\u2019ll be OK. That was the worry when I was [to] leave boxing. What was I going to do? That was my whole identity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Spence\u2019s father, Errol Sr., attended the fight against Crawford. When asked how stunned he was to see his son get beaten so badly, he didn\u2019t answer for 15 seconds before saying, \u201cI don\u2019t have any opinion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n When asked again specifically about the fight,\u00a0Spence Sr. said, \u201cThere\u2019s a lot behind the scenes. I\u2019m not going to get into it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Spence Jr. offered little in an interview with The News about the events leading to the Crawford fight. However, Spence told Hall of Fame fighter Andre Ward on The Art of Ward podcast that he suffered a rib injury in training that curtailed sparring sessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t spar,\u201d Spence told Ward. \u201cSix weeks out I got a cortisone shot in my ribs. My ribs were hurting. I got a cortisone shot. I had to get cleared for that the week of the fight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Derrick James, Spence\u2019s trainer for the Crawford fight,<\/a> declined to comment when asked about the injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spence\u2019s new trainer, Ronnie Shields,<\/a> offered surprise when discussing the lack of sparring for the Crawford fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe that when I heard that,\u201d said Shields, a former boxer. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it. But I never talked to him about that. That\u2019s the past. I concentrate on the future [with] what we have right now. We can\u2019t erase the past; the past is gone.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The past haunted Spence. He told Ward, \u201cI was in a dark spot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Errol Spence, Jr. with his championship belts after defeating Danny Garc\u00eda in a WBC & IBF World Welterweight Championship boxing match at AT&T Stadium on Saturday, December 5, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. Spence Jr. won by unanimous decision in 12 rounds. (Vernon Bryant\/The Dallas Morning News)<\/p>\n Vernon Bryant\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n Life in the fast lane<\/p>\n Spence was injured in a car accident in October 2019<\/a>, suffering damage to his teeth and some soft tissues after flipping his Ferrari on Riverfront Boulevard near downtown Dallas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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