Errol Spence Jr. Says Goodbye to Boxing

After three years away from boxing, former unified 147-pound champion Errol Spence Jr. returned to the ring, this time at middleweight, against former world champion Tim Tszyu. After what we saw on Saturday night at Afterpay Arena in Sydney, Australia, it probably was his last.

Spence(28-2, 22 KOs), who announced his retirement after the fight, lost to Tszyu(28-3, 18 KOs) by unanimous decision. 

Two judges scored the fight 117-111, and another judge had it 118-110.

Spence was not awful, and the scores were probably too wide, but no matter how you view the scorecards, the right man won.

“It was a good fight and congratulations to Tim,” said Spence. “It’s been a great event, and everyone has treated me well. It was a good showing by Tim.

“I answered a lot of questions for myself, and now it’s time to go home with my family and start a new life. I’ve got my faculties intact, and my money is working for itself. I’m thankful to leave this sport with my family by my side.”

 Photos from No Limit Boxing

This fight was not about what Tszyu did; it was about what the 36-year-old Spence couldn’t do. His legs were not the same, and his power did not carry to middleweight, but in reality, none of that mattered.

As he said, Spence, who might have been damaged after getting stopped by Terence Crawford, will walk away with his faculties intact and with a decent amount of money in his bank account. In the sport of boxing, where many walk away broke and with limited faculties, that’s a great thing. 

You could argue Spence was not the same after his terrible car accident in 2019, which could be true. However, he did have some good wins over Danny Garcia and Yordenis Ugas after the accident, but he probably was not the same. You could argue that he should have taken a tuneup fight before he stepped in with Tszyu, which is probably true, but as he said numerous times, Spence doesn’t do tuneups.

In the end, he has had a great career; he dominated most of the fighters at 147 pounds during his reign, except for one(Crawford), and he has done enough to be a Hall of Famer.