Errol Spence has a 20/20 vision of who he wants to fight next.
But before getting a shot at revenge fighting Terence Crawford in a rematch later this year, Spence has decided to repair his eyesight.
The former unified welterweight champion Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) announced on social media Monday that he’s undergone cataract surgery.
“It’s been past due. Sh!t was covering my eye. Why [do] you think I got hit with so many jabs and hooks? Still a great performance by bro [Crawford],” Spence wrote in an Instagram post.
Spence also posted footage of his bandaged eye while being transported in a wheelchair.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “cataract surgery is a procedure to remove the lens of the eye and, in most cases, replace it with an artificial lens. A cataract causes the lens to become cloudy when it is typically clear. Cataracts can eventually affect vision … Often, complete healing [after surgery] happens within eight weeks.”
The procedure marks Spence’s second known eye surgery.
In August 2021, eleven days before he was supposed to fight Manny Pacquiao, Spence announced that he’d have to pull out of the fight due to left retina surgery.
Instead, Yordenis Ugas stepped in for Spence’s career-best opportunity at the time and shocked Pacquiao with a unanimous decision win in what turned out to be the final fight of the Filipino legend’s career.
Spence later said that if he fought Pacquiao, he probably would’ve been blind and lost his career.
Spence eventually recovered from the eye procedure and went on to score a stoppage win against Ugas in April 2022, his only fight after the retina surgery and before the Crawford fight.
The Texan knew he’d have an uphill battle facing Crawford going into the clash.
“I mean, everything I have been through throughout these two, three years, I mean, I should be the underdog,” Spence said during the lead-up of the fight last year, while also referencing his near-death car crash in 2019.
Spence suffered the first loss of his professional career to Crawford on July 29, getting dropped three times en route to a ninth-round stoppage defeat. Crawford outlanded Spence 185 to 96 to win the undisputed welterweight title.
The 33-year-old Spence will be an even bigger underdog once the sequel takes place against Crawford. Spence activated his rematch clause soon after the fight and wants the matchup to take place at 154 pounds.
Spence currently lists himself as a 154-pound fighter on his Instagram profile.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.