"I'm the type of guy if I got an opponent hurt, I am going for the kill...We gonna pick up the level of competition. I was supposed to fight some dude named Noe Bolanos, who was like 29-6, but something happened and he couldn't make it so they put a late replacement Cuevas in. But the level of competition gonna step up, the rounds are gonna step up. We gonna be in 10-rounders and y'all gonna keep seeing great performance after great performance," stated undefeated fast-rising welterweight Errol Spence, who talked about his future plans and much more. Check it out!
PC: You closed out the year with a spectacular knockout win over Pipino Cuevas Jr. How do you feel about the way your 2013 went?
ES: Ah man, I feel great, man. I had a perfect year; 10-0 with 8 knockouts. I stayed busy like I wanted to and stayed healthy and I had the year that I planned on having.
PC: Before all of your fights, when we spoke, I asked if you were getting a little burned out, and although on the surface it appears you handled fighting so frequently pretty well, was there a time where you felt a little tired?
ES: I don't know, man; I'm just a workhorse. I know in August, I hit the wall a little bit and I was kind of burnt out, so I started taking two days off a week. I just fought through it. I was still fighting and I wasn't burnt out anymore; the few days I was taking off really helped. I took a week off and everything was fine, but I was burnt out probably for like 2 months. But I was still training and still fighting.
PC: That's a lot of work. Some people see the fights, but they don't understand the sparring and 6 to 8 weeks of training that proceeds the actual fight.
ES: Yeah man, a lot of times, the training is harder than the fight. It's a lot of miles, hours, and strength and conditioning, and then you add sparring and you're doing that for 8 weeks straight. A lot of times, the training is harder than the fight.
PC: Are you enjoying the holidays a little bit or is it business as usual for you?
ES: I'm enjoying them a little bit, but I'm in training camp right now. I just sparred 10 rounds today. I might be fighting January 25th. That's the date we looking at right now. I want to stay busy like this though. My body feeling good, I'm feeling good, so why not stay busy?
PC: For sure. And I know names are just that when you see them on the other side of your contract, but did fighting the son of Pipino Cuevas mean anything to you or was it just another opponent and another fight?
ES: I just viewed it as another fight. He's not his daddy. His daddy has a great name and I respect him, but I just seen it as another fight and another stepping stone.
PC: You already pay a lot of attention to body work, but seeing his mid-section so soft had to enhance the want to go to his body. You went there very often.
ES: That's with any opponent that I face. I'm gonna go to the body early and test their body and see how they react. I start from the body and go from there and work my way upstairs.
PC: It seems like you broke him in that fight. He looked ready to go at times even before the stoppage. Did you sense that?
ES: Oh yeah! I hit him with a body shot or something and he slumped over a little bit with his hands up, so I knew he was hurt right there and he was laying on the ropes. I knew I had hurt him and I'm the type of guy if I got an opponent hurt, I am going for the kill.
PC: I'm sure you are your own worst critic, but when you look back at the year you had, can you point out your best fight or best moment during one of your fights?
ES: Nah! I don't have a favorite fight right now. If you ask me next year, I'll be able to give you one next year. We stepping up big next year.
PC: You seem to avoid or not pay attention to the pressure of being looked at as the future of boxing. How do you remain humble and grounded through the praise?
ES: I know it's a long road ahead to get to the top and I gotta keep doing the things that got me here and remain level headed and be humble. That's what got me into this position I'm in now and I just gotta keep doing what I been doing. I can't listen to the critics or what people are saying. I'm really not gonna believe in the hype; I'm gonna keep working.
PC: When you see how quickly the media and fans turned on Adrien Broner after his first setback, was that kind of an eye opener for you, and do you think he brought some of it on himself or was it unfair?
ES: Man, I think it was a little unfair how people was throwing stuff at him when he was walking out of the ring. That wasn't called for, but it comes with the territory too. AB wants to be the bad guy to get his name out there, so automatically people are gonna characterize him as the villain and people not gonna like him. But AB is a great fighter. He fought a great fight, but dude caught him early and Maidana didn't really let him recover. But Adrien showed a lot of heart and he just kept fighting. Most fighters would have quit with Maidana hitting them like that, but Adrien kept fighting.
PC: You say you plan on stepping up big in 2014. What can we expect from you?
ES: We gonna pick up the level of competition. I was supposed to fight some dude named Noe Bolanos, who was like 29-6, but something happened and he couldn't make it so they put a late replacement Cuevas in. But the level of competition gonna step up, the rounds are gonna step up. We gonna be in 10-rounders and y'all gonna keep seeing great performance after great performance. And with the exposure that they are giving us on these networks, we are kind of building a relationship with the fans already. They see you fighting on Showtime making your pro debut and on Fox Sports, they build a relationship with you because they seen you grow up as a fighter. They seeing you early as opposed to where you have 20 something fights already; they can relate to you. They seen you grow as a fighter, so it's a great thing. It really helps your fan base.
PC: You also get a lot of love on social media. What is that like because although you can't address each and every person, I know you see it?
ES: It's great to see your work get noticed. Everybody wants their work to get noticed and appreciated and I'm getting a lot of support from people. People I don't even know support me and it's a great thing and really a motivator.
PC: I look forward to a big 2014 from you and wish you all the best. Is there anything you want to add?
ES: I just want everybody to follow me on Twitter, @ErrolSpenceJr, Instagram, @ErrolSpenceJr, and Facebook, Errol Spence Jr. I just appreciate everybody's support and 2014 is going to be a big year and I'm shooting for the stars.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]