Errol Spence Jr.’s former trainer, Derrick James, says the lack of sparring ahead of Spence’s 2023 loss to Terence Crawford was caused by a rib injury sustained during camp and a decision made by Spence’s father, not poor planning on James’s part.
James spoke to Brian Custer, directly contradicting the account Spence gave in a recent interview with Andre Ward, in which Spence described the Crawford training camp as “trash” and said he went six or seven weeks without sparring.
We weren’t able to do everything that we do normally to prepare for a fight. The only thing that was really different was that he didn’t have the ability to spar because he was injured.
James said Spence suffered a rib injury in the second week of sparring and that he advised Spence to get it checked. He said the decision to stop sparring did not come from him.
His father did. His father said he not sparring. He gonna save it to the fight. His father is the one that said no sparring.
James also disputed Spence’s claim that he was not prepared for Crawford’s southpaw style, saying he personally threw left-handed punches at Spence on the mitts to simulate southpaw live action for 14 to 16 rounds.
Watch the media day. I’m throwing punches at him left-handed because he couldn’t spar. I’m the one throwing shots at him. I’m the one going 14 rounds with him on the mitts.
James also revealed that the contract contained a clause allowing the fight to be postponed three months due to injury, but Spence chose not to use it.
He had something within the contract that said they could move the fight back three months, but he didn’t want to do that.
Crawford dominated the fight, stopping Spence in the ninth round via three knockdowns. Spence faces Tim Tszyu on July 25 in Sydney in his first fight since the defeat.
