Errol Spence Jr. Returns After Three Years: Can He Recover?

Errol Spence Jr. returns to the ring Sunday against Tim Tszyu in Sydney after a layoff of nearly three years, and nobody knows which version of the former welterweight champion will show up.

Spence has not fought since Terence Crawford knocked him down three times en route to a ninth-round stoppage in July 2023. Before that, he had dealt with injuries from a near-fatal car crash in October 2019 and a detached retina that forced him out of a planned fight with Manny Pacquiao. The DeSoto, Texas, native is now 36 and has boxed just three times since edging Shawn Porter in September 2019, according to Ring Magazine's Keith Idec.

Spence Insists He Is Refreshed and Ready

Spence said he needed the extended break to heal properly. "I'm feeling great," he told reporters. "I needed that time off to let everything heal. I wouldn't have come back if I wasn't feeling great." He compared his mindset to his 2017 trip to England to fight Kell Brook, adding that the hunger remains despite the long absence.

Tszyu brings his own baggage into the middleweight bout at Afterpay Arena. The Australian has dropped two of his past five fights by stoppage, falling to Bakhram Murtazaliev and Sebastian Fundora. Spence holds a record of 28-1 with 22 knockouts, while Tszyu stands at 27-3 with 18 stoppages. The fight will stream on DAZN pay-per-view.

Spence acknowledged that skeptics will not believe he is back until he proves it in the ring. "This feels similar to when I went over to England to fight Kell Brook," he said Thursday. "The mentality doesn't change at all. It's me versus him, and it's everything on the line."

Source: ringmagazine.com