By Jim Maltzman: Welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. could be facing Mayweather Promotions fighter Maurice Lee in a tune-up in his next fight. The unranked 2nd tier fighter Lee (12-1-2, 5 KOs) revealed on social media that he has “great news” on him possibly facing IBF/WBC 147-pound champion Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) next.
This would be a comeback fight for Spence to get the cobwebs out before he takes on upper-level competition.
Spence vs. Lee would be the equivalent of an exhibition level match in terms of quality. It would be shocking if Spence faces Lee, and even more surprising if it’s shown on Fox Sports. On paper, it’s such a bad fight that it’s not worthy of being televised. Lee looked terrible in his recent clashes against journeyman fighters.
Will the sanctioning bodies approve Maurice Lee?
Spence vs. Lee would be a match pending approval by the IBF and WBC, considering that the 28-year-old Lee isn’t ranked in the top 15 by any of the four sanctioning bodies at this time. World champions are expected to defend against top-ranked contenders, and Lee doesn’t possess a ranking as of yet in the top tier.
Spence recently said that he wasn’t going to be taking a tune-up fight, and that would face Danny Garcia when he returns to the ring. But if what Lee is saying is correct about him being Spence’s next opponent, then it would make it clear that he wants a tune-up fight.
You can’t blame Spence, 29, for taking a warm-up match, as he’s coming off of a severe car crash on October 10, and he needs a minor-level contest before facing world-class opposition competition like Danny, Manny Pacquiao or Keith Thurman.
Maurice Lee vowing to ‘DOG’ Errol Spence
“I got some great news. Errol Spence, you’re going to get exactly what you asked for. I’m about to dog you like you stole something,” said Maurice Lee on social media in revealing that he’ll be fighting Errol next. “I come from the streets…I got some great news.
“Do you know how Adrien Broner fought Ashley Theophane? Errol Spence is about to fight Maurice ‘Victorius’ Lee and get his a** whooped. We’re all working. I need a lot of rounds. I boxed like 20-30 rounds straight now. I’m out here in Vegas. I’ll hit the gym later and train and staying ready,” said Lee.
The little known Mayweather Promotions fighter Lee looked horrible in his six-round unanimous decision loss to journeyman Cameron Krael (12-15-3, 4 KOs) in December 2016. Lee lost by the scores 59-55, 59-55, and 58-56. For most of the fight, Lee gave ground to Krael was just covering up using his Mayweather shoulder roll defense.
Since that loss, Lee has won five out of his last seven fights. In 2018 and 2019, Lee fought to a pair of fix-round draws against Ivan Pandzic and Lennard Davis. In Lee’s last three contests, he’s beaten the following lower-level fighters:
- Andre Byrd
- Ivan Pandzic
- Dakota Linger
Does Spence need to fight a 2nd tier guy?
If there’s this much concern about Spence about him coming back from his car crash, maybe he needs to vacate his IBF and WBC welterweight titles and use the next couple of years slowly working himself back into fighting the best.
For Spence to be making this move in fighting Lee, there has to be some severe worry. Has Spence been doing poorly during his sparring sessions? His team had to have something in Spence to make them want to start at the very beginning by matching him against a mediocre fighter like Lee.
Will Fox Sports be open to televising Spence’s fight with Lee? Boxing fans want to see quality fights, and this would be a terrible product for them if they put this fight, mainly if they sell it on pay-per-view. It would be on the level of Floyd Mayweather’s mismatch against Conor McGregor, who came into their match with an 0-0 record.