Errol Spence Jr. was once among the most feared names in professional boxing.
The talented Long Island-born, DeSoto, Texas-raised former unified welterweight champion dominated for most of his career until he ran into Terence Crawford almost exactly three years ago.
And following his second straight loss, this time in Australia early Sunday, the likely future Hall-of-Famer decided to call it a career.
“I think yeah, for sure,” Spence, 36, said to Main Event’s Ben Damon when asked if this was it.
Spence indeed did decide to hang up the gloves after losing to former WBO Junior Middleweight Champion Tim Tszyu via unanimous decision in the latter’s native Australia.
The cards read 118-110, and two scores of 117-111 for Tszyu, who outlanded Spence 190 to 157, according to Compubox, despite Spence throwing 715 punches to Tszyu’s 576.
“I’ve got my faculties intact. My money is good at working for itself. Everything’s good, man,” Spence said. “I’ve got a beautiful family, and I thank God I’m gracious to leave this sport with my faculties intact and my family still by my side.”
Tszyu admitted he was uneasy heading into this matchup, having lost three of four bouts before cruising to back-to-back unanimous decision victories in the lead-up.
“I had sleepless nights thinking about, ‘What am I going to feel like facing a legend like that?’ But it was one hell of a show, and I understand why he’s one of the greats,” Tszyu, a former super welterweight champion who beat Spence Jr. at middleweight, said after the win. “I’d love to fight for a title. That’s what I’m aiming for. But I’ve got to say beating a great like Errol Spence tops a world title.”
Spence walks away from boxing having back-to-back losses after amassing an attention-grabbing 28-0 with 22 knockouts and Pound-for-Pound status while racking up three of the sport’s four World Championships at welterweight — the WBC, WBA and IBF titles — before a perceived 50-50 showing against Crawford took center stage at the T-Mobile Arena on July 29, 2023.
What was a hotly debated contest going into it became a one-sided, legacy-defining demolition by Crawford, who became Undisputed Champion for a second weight class, dropping Spence three times and winning via technical knockout in Round 9.
Prior to Crawford, Spence amassed one of the best modern runs of championship boxing, beginning with his IBF Championship win over then welterweight titleholder Kell Brook, knocking him out in Round 11 on their May 27, 2017 bout in Brook’s native Sheffield, England.
Spence notably defended his title successfully against former world champions Lamont Peterson and Mikey Garcia before outpointing WBC Champion Shawn Porter in a September 2019 unification bout, later beating multiple-weight world champion Danny Garcia prior to adding the WBA Super World title after stopping Yordenis Ugas in April of 2022.
Spence lacked activity in his later years, fighting just five times after March 2019 through his final fight this weekend, and competing 15 months between fights, on average, before his most recent three-year layoff.
Despite his success, the fearsome body puncher also remains one of boxing’s most recent “what ifs.”
Spence was notably involved in a single-car accident on October 10, 2019, at approximately 2:53 a.m. in Dallas, Texas, requiring ICU treatment.
His Ferrari 488 Spider had been moving “at a high rate of speed,” according to Dallas Police, and tumbled over multiple times while Spence, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the vehicle.
Spence was expected to make a full recovery, and did, though he was released from the hospital six days later and was charged with a DWI, which is a class-B misdemeanor by the Dallas Police Department.
He suffered no broken bones as a result of the incident.
He returned to the ring 14 months later, beating the previously mentioned latter Garcia by unanimous decision.
