‘Showtime’ Shawn Porter says he’s beginning to worry about the health status of IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. following his vehicle accident on October 10. Spence hasn’t been seen on video since he got out of the hospital in Dallas. Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) was in the intensive care unit for six days following the accident in Dallas.
The 29-year-old Spence was ejected from his Ferrari 488 Spider in the accident. Porter says he thinks Spence went through the windshield face-first during the accident. Although Spence posted on his social media site that he hadn’t broken any bones during the accident, Porter is worried about.
The fact that Spence isn’t showing himself to the public. It’s a cause for concern that Errol may be dealing with injuries that will keep him out of the ring.
Porter: I’m very, very worried about Errol Spence’s health
“He’s a beast, that’s what I heard,” said Porter to Behind The Gloves in reacting to Spence’s car crash. “Honestly, I’m still worried. I haven’t seen a video, and I haven’t seen him, I haven’t seen his family or anything like that. At the end of the way, when you do start to add everything up, and you haven’t seen. We’re going to speculate, and we’re going to wonder and question, you know? We’re going to question the physics and the science of it all.
“You can shoot a windshield, and it won’t completely shatter. A head going through a windshield to me is really bizarre. There’s no way he went foot-first through the windshield at the rate of speed we were told that he was going. I’m just worried until I hear from him, and until I hear from the family, video, picture or anything like that. I’m going to stay worried.
“I actually sent a text message yesterday, saying, ‘Hey, have you heard any news on Errol?’ The most I heard is he’s at home, which is good, but I’m still very, very worried about him,” said Porter.
It is strange that Spence hasn’t been seen in public, and there’s no video or interviews by phone. Spence is incredibly lucky to have survived the crash of his Ferrari. According to the Dallas police from an ESPN report, Spence’s Ferrari 488 Spider was “traveling at a high rate of speed” before it “veered left over the center median onto the southbound lanes and flipped multiple times, ejecting the driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt.”
Ferrari’s are made of lightweight material. It’s not the ideal vehicle to be in a car crash. Spence was later charged with DWI by the Dallas police.
Porter wants Manny Pacquiao fight
“That would be a terrific fight,” said Porter about a fight with Pacquiao. “Me and Errol Spence both campaigned [for it]. The winner of this fight would have the opportunity to fight Manny Pacquiao, and combine three belts. It made sense at the time. Ever since then, because the fight [with Spence] didn’t go the way we wanted, we were going to campaign for the rematch, and now Errol Spence has taken the dive he’s taken. So now we’re looking at Manny Pacquiao.
“We didn’t actually win the fight officially, but in a lot of ways, we on the hearts of millions. I think we made a humongous statement with the boxing world. I think the boxing world knows that a fight between Shawn Porter and Manny Pacquiao would be intriguing, exciting, and everything you want a boxing fight to be. Now you’ve got a good taste of who Shawn Porter is, and now that fight becomes intriguing.
“You now start to wonder if Manny Pacquiao can beat Shawn Porter. I think the age will be a little bit of a problem for Manny Pacquiao. If you watch the fight, there were plenty of low blows [from Spence]. He now understands why a lot of my fights are close,” said Porter.
Despite losing to Spence, Porter feels he gained enough appreciation from fans to be a good option for Pacquiao. The Filipino star hasn’t named his next opponent yet, and that gives Porter a shot at potentially facing him.
Porter feels the scores were too wide for Spence fight
“I remember being able to control the action and control the fight,” said Porter about his match with Spence. “It seemed like the rounds were going the way I wanted them to go. That doesn’t mean I was completely dominant. I didn’t feel like things weren’t going my way.
“Eight or nine rounds straight, I felt that way. Extremely wide, especially when you have another judge going my way,” said Porter in reacting to the 116-111 scores in Spence’s favor. “It would be different if the fight went that way, but the fight didn’t go that way at all. I’ll always be one of the key players [in welterweight division]. I’m the toughest in the division,” said Porter.
Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs( says he had his fight with Spence a lot closer than the scores handed in by 2 of the judges. They had it 116-111, 116-111 for Spence. The third judge scored it 115-112 for Porter. A lot of the rounds were close, and could have gone either way.
Porter maintains that Spence was hitting him with a lot of low blows. However, Porter’s trunks were not only pulled up high, but they had a huge waistband. Spence was hitting Porter on his waistband during much of the fight, and that’s why the referee didn’t count those as low blows.
Porter’s chances of a rematch with Spence depend on his health
Spence’s car crash was bad luck for Porter, because he had a shot at getting a rematch. If Spence is out of action for a prolonged period of time, then Porter won’t have a chance of getting a second fight with him. Porter is hoping that Pacquiao will agree to fight him, but that may not happen.
Pacquiao had a bad experience in being roughed up by Jeff Horn in 2017. It’s good that Porter didn’t rough up Spence, because that might have scared Pacquiao away from fighting him. Porter has good enough boxing skills to where he doesn’t need to rough up his opponents in order to win.