Errol Spence Jr. faces questions over the severity of an eye injury after being completely demoralized by Terence Crawford in their first fight.
“The Truth” lost to the point where his ability to compete in a rematch is seriously debated.
Spence suffered a mass of injuries from two car crashes, including a detached retina from 2019, during which he fought just twice in four years.
Now, after being dominated by Crawford in Las Vegas and not putting up much of a fight, Spence’s previous ailments are coming under scrutiny.
Some on social media believe Spence cashed out on his eye by making sure the Crawford fight was done now before his sight got any worse.
Errol Spence’s eye injury under question
The eye is primarily a concern. It sometimes looked as if Spence didn’t see the punches coming from Crawford. At times, Crawford deliberately targeted the eye, leaving further fears over Spence’s ability to see correctly for the rest of his life.
Not to take anything away from Crawford’s win. But it sometimes looked as if “Bud” was fighting a much weaker opponent than the undefeated three-belt welterweight champion of the world.
Discussing his injury with Brian Custer in 2021, it sounded like Spence was lucky to be able to continue his boxing career at all.
“I didn’t know I had a retina tear. But I do remember when it happened. When the guy hit me, I felt like little I heard a little pop.
“Then I went to the corner like man, my eye or whatever, they looked at my eye. Then I actually came back out there and sparred like four-five more rounds. Two days later, I had sparred again.”
An admission that he may not be able to see fully out of the eye has been highlighted in the aftermath.
Seeing a shadow
Asked if he sees a shadow in his eye, Spence added: “I mean, I see a little something. But it ain’t nothing too crazy like it’s not disrupting my vision or whatever.”
On what the doctor told him, Spence concluded:
“I got some good news. I got some bad news. The bad news is that there’s no way you can fight. Then the good news is that it’s partially detached so that they can put it back on. But you know there’s no way you can fight.”
Spence eventually did compete after missing out on a fight with Manny Pacquiao. He defeated Yordenis Ugas over ten rounds via stoppage, and nobody thought anything of it.
However, his humbling against Crawford has brought further suspicions that Spence’s injury may be worse than first thought.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer.
