Errol Spence Jr. and Yordenis Ugas faced off on Thursday at their final press conference before Saturday night’s welterweight unification fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Spence has wanted the Ugas fight since watching him step in as his replacement last August to defeat Manny Pacquiao. That was supposed to have been Spence’s fight, but an eye injury he suffered training resulted in him needing to back out of the contest.
The 32-year-old Spence says he no longer wants to waste time in his career. He wants to beat WBA champion Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) on Saturday night, and use the victory as a springboard to face WBO belt holder Terence Crawford later this year for the undisputed championship.
Things could have been so much easier for Spence if he’d gotten the fights that he wanted against Thurman, Manny Pacquiao, and Shawn Porter when he wanted them to happen.
IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) expressed disappointment about the wasted time in his career trying to get fights against reluctant champions like Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman, as well as the car crash that slowed things down.
“Try to get the Crawford fight done,” said Spence to Fighthype when asked who he wants to fight after he picks up his third title on Saturday against Ugas.
“I feel like that’s the main priority and the main goal to try and get it done within a year,” continued Spence about his focus on becoming the undisputed 147-lb champion in 2022.
‘I feel like I wasted enough time, and it’s time to catch up. I think it’ll happen,” said Errol about the fight against WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
“I’ve been sparring and I get hit in the eye. I don’t tell them, ‘Don’t hit me in the eye on that side. So it’s been tested quite a bit, so it’s good,” said Spence when asked if his surgically repaired eye is fully healed for the Ugas fight.
“Of course, his coach [Ismael Salas] has a game plan, but Ugas has got to go out there and execute it. So, we’ll see on Saturday night if he can go out there and execute it.
“I definitely notice it, but feel like it’s definitely going to happen because I’m not overly flashy or got so much speed and power. I’m kind of like Tim Duncan in boxing in a sense.
“I do everything right fundamentally sound. I don’t have too much speed, but I got enough speed. I might not have crazy power, but I’ve got enough power.
“A lot of people may doubt that, but for them, they don’t see my other attributes to know that I’m fundamentally sound in everything,” said Spence.
