IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence is set to make the first defense of his IBF title tomorrow on Showtime when he takes on Lamont Peterson. And while Peterson is certainly a credible-enough opponent, this wasn’t exactly the fight fans had been hoping for. They want to see the best against the best, and Spence says he’s been trying his darnedest...
Spence on what wiping out the welterweight division means to him:
“I haven’t been active as recently, you know, due to waiting,” Spence said. “You know, because I had to wait for my title defense and things like that. And then I had a lot of guys not answering the call.
“Al [Haymon] done called these guys...the reporters mention my name — they try to make excuses, this and that. Ok, I have a belt now, I went over there and got the belt. So what’s the excuse now? I have a belt and I’m still calling these dudes out: Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, all these guys.
“[Peterson] wouldn’t be sitting here if Keith Thurman or Danny Garcia or Shawn Porter said they’ll take the fight, you know?! I shouldn’t be a world champion and having to call these dudes out. And Lamont Peterson answered the call like a real fighter, like a real solider should do.”
On what he’d like to accomplish this year in a perfect world:
“Well in a perfect world I’d be unifying with Keith Thurman or something like that. I wanna fight three times a year, I’m gonna stay active. I’m not gonna wait on anybody or...something you don’t get back is time. You don’t get time back. So I’m not gonna be waiting around, waiting on fighters to get ready and, you know, they need to have tune-up fights, or they wanna fight me in 2020 and things like that. You know, I’m not gonna wait — at all.”
CliffsNotes Version: Free smoke, free smoke!