Derrick James Responds To Spence's 'Trash' Camp Claims

Errol Spence Jr called his training camp for the Terence Crawford fight "trash."

Derrick James, who worked with Spence for years before their split and subsequent mutual lawsuit, addressed the comments. He stopped short of disputing that the camp was disrupted. He disputed the reasons.

"This is what I'll say. We weren't able to do everything that we normally do to prepare for a fight. The gym was busy at that time, so it was a different space. The whole protocol changed right after that fight — no kids in the gym, no this or that,” James

At the time of Spence's preparation for Crawford, he was simultaneously running camps for Anthony Joshua and Frank Martin. He was careful to clarify that the three fighters never trained at the same time, but the simultaneous demands were real and he acknowledged them.

"I had two other training camps going on at the same time. They never trained at the same time, but they were going on simultaneously. I will say that. If 'trash' is his perception, there's nothing I can do about it. It was never like I was training all three of them at the same time,” James

Where James pushed back firmly was on the sparring question. Spence has said he did not spar adequately for the Crawford fight, a claim James rejected directly.

"He said he didn't spar. No, he did spar for two weeks, and supposedly he got injured within the last week of the sparring. So he couldn't spar for the next eight weeks because he suffered an injury. That's the only thing that was really different — he didn't spar because he was injured. After the injury, his father said no sparring, he's gonna save it till the fight,” James

The fallout between Spence and James extended beyond a difference of opinion about training methodology. The two became embroiled in a two-way lawsuit after parting ways in 2024, a legal dispute that turned a professional disagreement into something more corrosive. The public comments about the camp are, in part, a continuation of that conflict.

Spence returns to the ring on July 25 against Tim Tszyu, now working with Ronnie Shields in his corner. It is his chance to move past the Crawford defeat.