Errol Spence Jr., a U.S. professional boxer and the current unified welterweight world champion, just added another belt to his collection after winning a unification bout against Cuban pro boxer Yordenis Ugás on April 16.
Spence, 32, has held the World Boxing Council (WBC) title since September 2019 and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title since May 2017.
He defended his WBC and IBF titles and became a three-belt welterweight champion in a unification bout in front of a home crowd when his fight against Ugás was stopped in the 10th round on April 16. Spence beat Ugás in a technical knockout when it was deemed unsafe for Ugás to continue fighting with his right eye swollen shut.
Spence is now a World Boxing Association (WBA) champ and the undisputed welterweight boxing champion with 28 wins, 22 knockouts and no losses or draws. Now, he only needs Terence Crawford’s WBO title to become undisputed 147-pound champion.
“Everybody knows who I want next; I want Terence Crawford next,” Spence said after the fight. “That’s the fight that I want; that’s the fight everybody else wants. Terence, I’m coming for that motherf—ing belt.”
The fight between Spence and Crawford could be scheduled for later this year to crown an undisputed welterweight champion in one of the biggest fights that can be made in boxing.
“Most boxers don’t become undisputed like me every belt I took from the champion,” Spence tweeted.
As an amateur in the welterweight division, Spence won three consecutive U.S. national championships and represented the U.S. at the 2012 Olympics, where he reached the quarterfinals.
In 2015, he was named Prospect of the Year by ESPN. He is now ESPN’s sixth pound-for-pound boxer.
In summer 2021, Spence was set to fight the legendary Manny Pacquiao but withdrew after he suffered a detached left retina that required surgery. His next bout was then set up with Ugás.
For now, Spence’s focus is on fighting Crawford and he made that clear in a Twitter reply to a suggestion that he considers fighting fellow boxer Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Photo: Errol Spence Jr. puts on a T-shirt after defeating Yordenis Ugas from Cuba in the welterweight championship boxing match, Arlington, Texas, April 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)