Robert Garcia has questioned whether Errol Spence Jr can rediscover the qualities that made him one of the sport’s “best fighters” between 2019 and 2022.
‘The Truth’ was once considered a top 10 pound-for-pound operator, back when he dethroned Shawn Porter and Yordenis Ugas to unify the WBC, IBF and WBA welterweight titles
Around that time, many even predicted that he would defeat Terence Crawford, only for him to lose their undisputed clash via a one-sided ninth-round stoppage in 2023.
Since then, Spence has remained out of the ring but now looks to reignite his career against Tim Tszyu, a fellow former world champion, on July 25.
The pair will square off at a catchweight of 158lbs in Australia, with Tszyu claiming a home advantage as he, too, looks to restore his place on the world stage.
His last outing at world level resulted in a seventh-round stoppage defeat to Sebastian Fundora, who edged their first encounter by split decision in 2024.
That same year, Tszyu found himself on the receiving end of a devastating third-round finish against Bakhram Murtazaliev, but now comes off back-to-back victories following his rematch with Fundora last July.
Spence, on the other hand, appears to be taking a sizable risk by jumping straight into a perceived 50/50 clash, with top trainer Garcia telling ESNEWS that the 36-year-old would have been forgiven for taking a “tune-up fight”.
“Errol Spence was a f***ing badass – pound-for-pound one of the best fighters.
“When he fought Crawford, you can tell that was not the Errol Spence we were used to seeing. He didn’t look good at all.
“Three years later, he wants to come back to boxing – and he’s not going to start off [with] a tune-up fight. I think he doesn’t know what he’s got left and, if he does a tune-up, he might get his ass kicked.
“That’s probably why he [made] the decision to go straight into the Tim Tszyu fight. If he’s fresh and he’s good, then he can win.”
As Garcia highlights, there is no way of knowing how much Spence has left due to the inactivity, which is largely what makes this such an intriguing contest against Tszyu.
