By: Sean Crose
Errol Spence’s trainer Derrick James told Marcos Villegas, “Errol Spence, Tank Davis Tyson Fury, Canelo Alvarez and Anthony Joshua,” Only five boxers make their own money. No one else sells”. Speaking to Villegas ahead of Spence’s WBC and IBF unifying match against WBA famed Yorenis Ugas, James made it clear his fighter was focused on keeping the lead in the match. “He has a lot to prove,” he said of Spence. “Ugas poses challenges and he (Spence) wants to show the world that he has the potential to come back great.”
A horrific car crash in 2019 took Spence out of the fighting game for a bit, as well as an eye injury that resulted in Spence having to leave last year’s planned big battle with the Filipino legend, Manny Pacquiao. In fact, Spence has only fought once since the horrific crash, defeating Danny Garcia by unanimous decision at the end of 2020. According to James, his boxer has only improved since then. . “He wanted to be better for himself,” James said. “He is very cruel. His punches are ferocious. He looks very evil, very strong, very physical. “Does James think Spence’s power can lead to a narrow victory? “I think it might be possible.”
One topic James doesn’t seem particularly interested in – at least right now – is the showdown between Spence and WBO standard tennis player Terence Crawford. “We’re not talking about Terence Crawford right now,” he told Villegas. “It’s not the focus or the motivation to make him better… (we) just focus on 100% Ugas.” When Villegas repeated Crawford, the interview turned a little tense. “It’s trash,” James said. “I have to calm down. You are about to anger me. ”
To James, the idea of Spence going up against Crawford for anything less than the undisputed weightlifting world championship was ludicrous. “That was stupid,” he said. The other war is a stupid war… why not fight for the undisputed championship of the world? “James also makes it clear that Spence has covered the field. “He said it three or four times, ‘I want to be the undisputed champion of the world. “James talks about protecting his boxers. While all of this may be true, it’s also true that Ugas was aiming to upset the apple cart when the bell rang at AT&T Stadium – something James was very interested in.
