THESE days, few rising stars in the sport of boxing are shining brighter than Errol Spence Jr. (20-0, 17 KOs). The 26-ear-old former Olympian is unbeaten in 20 fights and is blasting through the welterweight rankings.
He has knocked out his last seven opponents and is being pegged by some as a potential heir to the welterweight throne long-held by Floyd Mayweather Jr.
On Sunday, in Brooklyn, New York, he will be competing in an IBF title eliminator against veteran Leonard Bundu (33-1-2, 12 KOs), who hails from Freetown, Sierra Leone, by way of Florence, Italy.
For Spence, this has been a very busy fight week. The IBFโs number two ranked welterweight contender has been actively making the rounds. He has appeared on morning shows, mid-day shows, radio shows, press luncheons and everything in between.
To say that the young man is being primed for the limelight would be an understatement.
On CBSโย The Jim Rome Show, Spence endeared himself to fans when he humbly spoke about his parents and how he got into the sport of boxing.
โMy dad got me into boxing when I was 15 years old,โ he said. โI grew up watching Lennox Lewis when I was a little kid. My dad didnโt want me having a lot of time on my hands, โcause thatโs when you get in trouble. He figured I needed something to do for the summer. So I started boxing, fell in love with it, and dropped everything else.
โI think at the time I was a little naive,โ he continued. โYou donโt really see it until you get a little bit older and you sit back and think ‘Man, they really sacrificed a lot.โ It means everything to me. Thatโs what motivates me to be the best, try my hardest, and train my hardest. So I can pay them back. My mom, she can retire. My dad, he can retire. Then I can take care of them.โ
His fight week tour of New York City, arguably the worldโs most important media market, seems to be as much about preparing Spence for superstardom as it has been about promoting his match against Bundu.
Yet, while many would argue that he still needs a career-defining victory to enter the conversation, Spence believes that heโs already up there with the best fighters at 147 pounds.
โI definitely see myself in the top six or seven,โ said Spence. โI think itโs great group of guys. If everybody fights each other, anybody who comes out of top in that welterweight division is a future hall-of-famer. I know Iโm just two steps away from kicking in the door.โ
Defeating Bundu is first on his agenda. Spence acknowledged the veteranโs talent and positive attributes but, without an ounce of bravado, predicted himself the winner as if he had just travelled back in time to share the account of events already witnessed.
โBundu is awkward,โ he said. โHe switches from southpaw to orthodox. Has a a lot of experience but I feel like Iโm the bigger fighter. Iโm stronger. Iโm faster. Iโm smarter. Iโm going going to use my skills and my boxing experience just to beat him.”
In his tone, statement, and demeanor, you’d be hard-pressed to find an ounce of Adrien Broner, a smidgen of Keith Thurman, or a single iota of any version of Floyd โMoneyโ Mayweather.
In short, you canโt not like the guy. Even Floyd thinks he’s the real deal.
Likeability, however, doesnโt necessarily translate into victories, ticket sales or championship belts. In order to get a shot at obtaining the latter, heโll need to defeat Bundu on Sunday and heโs keenly aware of this fact.
โThis to me is the biggest fight of my career because this is a title eliminator. I have to handle business on Sunday (because) it guarantees me a world title shot on my next fight.”
The belt on which he has his eyes set is currently hanging in Kell Brookโs closet while the Brit sets his focus on new challenges and new waist accessories, but of the middleweight variety.
Brook, who readily admits that he struggles to make the 147 lb welterweight limit, will be the one to decide in which division he chooses to compete after the Golovkin fight.
Irrespectively, andย in the meantime, Errol Spence Jr. relishes in the fact that heโs two victories away from achieving his dream of becoming a world champion.