One of boxing’s more encouraging sights in 2025 was the reappearance of Errol Spence Jr — not under the lights, but ringside, back among the familiar hustle and bustle of the sport.
The former unified welterweight champion has been absent from competition for more than two-and-a-half years following his humbling loss to Terence Crawford, a defeat that denied Spence the chance to become undisputed at 147lbs.
Since then, his name and résumé have ensured that speculation around a potential comeback has never entirely gone away, even if whether he will fight again remains unclear.
Recently, Spence has spent time with Roy Jones Jr, who has taken on an informal advisory role as the Texan weighs up his future. Appearing as a guest on the Clubhouse Boxing podcast, the former pound-for-pound great explained what he hoped to achieve from their discussions.
“We just worked a little bit to see how he was. He was good. I’m glad to see him in high spirits. He’s willing and ready to do whatever necessary to get back.
“I just wanted to talk to him and try to give him some encouraging words and tell him that if he needs anything I’m here to help him out because it’s a brotherhood –– he is a fellow fighter.
“If you can help a young brother do something or help to inspire him to get his life back and on the right path you try to do that. That’s all I was trying to do.”
Spence’s 29-fight record contains just one defeat — to Crawford — but his journey outside the ring has been far more turbulent. The Texas southpaw survived a horrific car crash in 2019 and underwent cataract surgery in 2024, experiences that have inevitably shaped the conversation around any return.
Nevertheless, the 35-year-old has recently been linked with a potential all-Texas showdown against unbeaten, heavy-hitting super-welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr at Arlington Stadium — a fight that would offer both risk and clarity, should Spence decide that his story in boxing is not yet finished.
