Errol Spence has brought aboard an old friend as his new manager at a pivotal point in his career.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the unbeaten, unified WBA, WBC and IBF welterweight titlist and Fighters First Management CEO Adrian Clark have entered a managerial agreement. The news comes just days after Spence secured a long-desired showdown versus three-division and reigning WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford (39-0, 30KOs) for the undisputed championship on July 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“It is an honor to have Errol join the Fighters First family,” Clark said in a statement provided to Boxing Scene. “If you know Errol, you know how meticulous and calculated he is in business. In 11 years, he has only aligned himself with two companies (PBC and Everlast).
“For Fighters First to be the third company to represent Errol Spence Jr says a lot about who we are as a company.”
Spence and Clark—both of whom hail from the greater Dallas area—formed a bond more than a decade ago, predating Spence’s time as a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Boxing team which competed in London. Clark was long involved in negotiating business deals for Spence (28-0, 22KOs), including the southpaw’s longtime partnership with Everlast.
Spence is advised by Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) creator Al Haymon but has remained a managerial and promotional free agent throughout his stellar eleven-year pro career.
Much of that time was spent working with and bouncing ideas off Clark, whose ‘Protect Yourself At All Times’ best-selling book was the subject of a short film released earlier this year. The book also served as motivation for automotive engineer David Basha to form the aptly-named Fighters First Management company, which signed six fighters in its first year before adding its biggest client to date.
“”I met with Fighters First months ago and I believe in their vision, not just for me but for the fighters,” said Spence. “AC has been a part of my team for a while. He put Everlast and me together. I trust him to continue to put things together for me.”
Spence has held at least one welterweight title since May 2017, when he stopped Kell Brook in eleventh round to win the IBF belt in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England. He has since added the WBC belt in a thrilling September 2019 points win over Shawn Porter and the WBA title via tenth-round stoppage of Yordenis Ugas in his most recent fight last April 16 at AT&T Stadium near his hometown in Arlington, Texas.
A win on July 29 will see Spence become the first male undisputed champion by beating four active titlists in the four-belt era. Every other male boxer has done so either through beating an existing unified titlist or winning at least one vacant belt. The only other boxer to accomplish the feat, regardless of gender, is Ireland’s Katie Taylor (22-1, 6KOs) who fully unified the lightweight crown with victories over four reigning titleholders from 2017 through June 2019.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox