Errol Spence Jr. ended his social media hiatus on Monday by sharing a series of posts and developments.
After Spence posted a video on Instagram announcing he had cataract surgery, the former unified welterweight champion took to X (formerly Twitter) for the first time since August to further address his first career loss to Terence Crawford on July 29.
Crawford dominated Spence during the undisputed welterweight title tilt, dropping him three times en route to a ninth-round stoppage win while outlanding him 185 to 96.
Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) responded to claims on X that Crawford was simply a better fighter than him and that he was a “one-trick pony.”
“You might be right, but one trick got Olympics, kids in private school, mom and pops retired years ago, passport filled with stamps, and I don’t have to pick up a glove again if I don’t want to,” Spence wrote.
“It’s cool. The Spence family appreciates them if they’ve been paying to watch this one-trick pony.
“No bullsh!t – the first three months [after losing to Crawford] I was waiting for someone in public to say something out of pocket in front of me. I was vulnerable to a lawsuit or something else around that time.
“Some of y’all forget what this sh!t really for until you’re 37 years old trying to make a comeback for 10% of what you used to make.
“All that said, you can kill the retirement sh!t though. Yeah, I got my ass beat – sh!t was past due. I didn’t live exactly like a boxer for the most part.”
Spence has endured a series of highs and lows over the last several years.
Spence first became the IBF welterweight champion in 2017 when he scored a stoppage win against Kell Brook.
A trio of title defenses against Lamont Peterson, Carlos Ocampo, and Mikey Garcia set up the southpaw Spence with an opportunity to unify titles in the division against Shawn Porter in 2019.
Less than two weeks after beating Porter via split decision, Spence survived a near-fatal car crash on October 10. Spence lost control of his Ferrari and rolled his sports car multiple times. Spence was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car. He later pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated (DWI) during the crash.
Spence returned to beat Danny Garcia in 2020.
He underwent left retina surgery in 2021, forcing him to withdraw from a fight against Manny Pacquiao eleven days prior.
Spence recovered from the eye injury to beat Yordenis Ugas and became the WBC, IBF, and WBA titleholder.
But bad luck seemingly followed him. In December 2022, Spence’s car was totaled after he was struck by an underage, unlicensed driver. The collision resulted in a leg injury.
However, the injury was not serious enough to derail the clash against Crawford.
Spence exercised his contractual right to a rematch against Crawford last summer but a date hasn’t been announced yet.
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.