Errol Spence Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs) had eye surgery on Wednesday to remove a cataract that limited his vision in his fight against Terence Crawford last July.
The surgery for the former IBF, WBA & WBC welterweight champion Spence was reportedly a success, and he’s ready to face Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) in a rematch to avenge his ninth-round knockout loss from last summer.
Spence, 33, says the reason he was hit with so many jabs and hooks from Crawford is because he couldn’t see properly, which explains why he was getting nailed cleanly throughout the contest with shots that he normally would have blocked or gotten out of the way of.
A Blurred Vision
“Had successful cataract surgery today! That explains why I got hit with so many jabs and hooks lately and have been overdue since before the Crawford fight. Still a great performance by Bro. No more excuses after this fight, though. The champ is back!” said Errol Spence on social media.
Obviously, Crawford’s victory as such is now viewed differently by fans, who now have their eyes wide open to why it was so easy for the 36-year-old to dominate what many felt was the #1 fighter on the planet at 147.
Crawford had never looked that good before, even against weak opposition like Shawn Porter, David Avanesyan, and Jeff Horn. Terence had always been a simple counter-puncher, switch-hitter, and not someone who overpowered his opponents.
Fighting Crawford with blurred vision had to have been a nightmare for Spence like he was fighting partially blind, and it’s valiant that he was able to last until the ninth round before he was halted.
Spence made a calculated decision
In hindsight, Spence should have postponed the fight and had surgery so that he could fight at 100%. Of course, that’s easier said than done. When you’re a fighter looking at getting a $20 million payday to make life-changing money, it would be difficult not to go through with the fight just so that you didn’t miss out on the payday.
With that kind of money, most people would do the same as Errol did by fighting while injured and then crying all the way to the bank afterward.
Fans will now wonder what could have been if Spence had fought Crawford with clear vision. We might have seen a similar performance from Errol as he’d shown in his previous fight against Yordenis Ugas, in which he dominated his older opponent.
