WBA welterweight champion Sen. Manny Pacquiao may be at ringside for IBF counterpart titleholder Errol Spence, Jr.?s third defense against WBC/IBF lightweight ruler Mikey Garcia at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on March 16 to size up a likely future opponent.
Las Vegas international matchmaker Sean Gibbons said yesterday there has been no word from Floyd Mayweather?s camp on the possibility of negotiating a rematch. But Mayweather remains at the top of Pacquiao?s wish list for his next foe. Gibbons said the list is wide open and includes Spence, WBA ?super? champion Keith Thurman and WBC ruler Shawn Porter. It?s no coincidence that Pacquiao, Spence, Thurman and Porter are aligned in Al Haymon?s Premier Boxing Champions stable which lists 162 fighters from 26 countries. The only exception in the welterweight royalty is WBO king Terence Crawford who is with Top Rank.
?Whatever the Senator likes, I like,? said Gibbons. ?The Senator is trying to go to Texas just to be on the scene to be seen. So far, nothing from Floyd at all. If the Senator makes it to Texas, I?ll be there. He?s supposed to be in Texas for the fight. The Senator?s staff is still working out his schedule. Floyd?s a good opponent but everybody is on the table for the Senator.?
Spence, 29, is the latest to be considered in the Pacquiao sweepstakes. The other day, Spence said the chance to fight Pacquiao would be a ?no brainer.? ?He?s a future Hall of Famer, an icon in the sport, a humongous draw,? said Spence. ?There?s no telling whom he?ll fight next. He?s getting older but he?s got a few fights left. It?ll be a huge crossover fight for me, big for my resume to fight and beat someone like him. Pacquiao?s a really big name. It could be like the passing of the torch.?
Spence was described as a ?big? 147-pounder by Pacquiao?s strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune. He stands 5-9 1/2 and has a 72-inch wingspan compared to Pacquiao who?s 5-5 1/2 with a 67-inch reach. But in 2010, Pacquiao trounced Antonio Margarito who?s even bigger than Spence with a height of 5-11 and a wingspan of 73 inches. Curiously, Pacquiao beat Margarito in the same venue where Spence is facing Garcia on March 16.
Spence, a quarterfinalist at the 2011 AIBA World Championships and 2012 London Olympics, boasts a 24-0 record, with 21 KOs. He has won his last 11 bouts by knockout. One of his challengers, previously unbeaten Mexican Carlos Ocampo, took the full count from referee Laurence Cole on a body shot in the first round in Frisco, Texas, last June.
Before the Garcia fight, Spence?s biggest purse was the equivalent of $1.3 Million he earned in halting Kell Brook in the sixth round for the IBF crown in Sheffield, England, in 2017. He received $1.2 Million each for disposing of challengers Lamont Peterson and Ocampo.
Spence?s only common opponent with Pacquiao is Chris Algieri. In 2016, Spence floored Algieri thrice enroute to scoring a fifth round stoppage to become the first fighter to stop the stylish New Yorker. Two years earlier, Pacquiao dropped Algieri six times but didn?t finish him off to notch a lopsided win on points in Macau.
Spence?s trainer Derrick James has been on his side since his Golden Gloves days. Spence was a welterweight as an amateur and since turning pro in 2012, has fought within the 146-150 limit in every fight except once when he scaled 156 1/2 pounds in stopping South African Chris Van Heerden in the eighth round in Toronto in 2015.
?My main thing is I want to beat the best fighters in the division and be the guy who?s on top of the division,? said Spence, quoted by Thomas Gerbasi in Boxing News. ?Beating the top names in the division, that?s great for my resume. I?m a person that hates to lose and I probably hate losing more than I love winning. I hate to see someone get the best of me or that person be the better man than me.?
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