Now that the post-fight buzz has died down a bit and the boxing world has officially embraced Errol Spence Jr. as one of the brightest young stars on the scene, it’s time to get practical.
Who can he fight next?
In an perfect world, we all know who we’d like to see Spence fight. Maybe Shawn Porter or Danny Garcia, Manny Pacquiao or Jeff Horn and, from there, onwards towards a fight with Keith Thurman or Terence Crawford.
But the boxing world ain’t a perfect world.
In the real world we live in, Thurman is a good, long way from agreeing to meet Spence-- and he’s not shy about admitting to that. Porter, as #1 WBC contender and Thurman’s mandatory opponent, will be waiting his turn for a title rematch. Danny Garcia, as the WBC's #2 ranked welterweight and “second mandatory,” will be waiting on the winner of Thurman-Porter 2 if he gets by Brandon Rios in February. Meanwhile, Horn, Pacquiao, and Crawford will all be doing their own thing as Top Rank fighters, fighting amongst themselves over the WBO 147 pound title.
Removing all those names from the pool of available challengers doesn’t give Spence much to work with when it comes to credible and, more importantly, doable main stage bouts. The possibility exists that, with enough money on the table, Team Spence can lure some of the above names to the ring. But, that’s more wishful thinking than an honest expectation.
So, who, realistically, CAN Spence fight next? Here are the five best options for a summer return to the ring:
Andre Berto
Some would say that Berto would’ve been a better choice than Lamont Peterson for Spence’s recent return to the ring. Berto has had a better welterweight run than Peterson and being just two fights removed from a Floyd Mayweather bout wouldn’t have hurt the marketability of the match-up. Of course, Berto probably wouldn’t do much better than Peterson in the effort to take Spence’s IBF welterweight belt, but the two-time welterweight champ always puts on a good show.
The Winner of Devon Alexander vs. Victor Ortiz
No matter who emerges victorious in their upcoming February 17 bout, walking into a Spence fight would be considered a cash-out fight. Neither Alexander nor Ortiz can hang for long with Spence, but both-- especially Ortiz-- could be salable opponents for an elite-level fighter who won’t have any elite-level opposition to face in the immediate future.
Lucas Matthysse
It’s a long shot that Golden Boy would be willing to offer up Matthysse as a sacrificial lamb to Spence, but cashing out the Argentine former junior welterweight titlist for the right price could make good business sense. Matthysse, realistically, doesn’t have much of a future as a smallish, brawling welterweight and, quite possibly, the best monetary option for Golden Boy is to offer him up as a sacrifice to the highest bidder. Of course, to make any of this a reality, Matthysse has to get by Thailand’s Tewa Kiram on January 27.
Bradley Skeete
Skeete doesn’t offer much as Spence cannon fodder, other than his status as British welterweight champ and a chance to help further Spence’s international standing-- and that may be enough to earn him a late spring/early summer date against the IBF champ.
Luis Collazo
The veteran boxer is coming off bicep surgery and is tentatively scheduled to return to the ring in March. Spence doesn’t gain a whole lot from beating Collazo, but the New York native gave Keith Thurman a tough time back in July of 2015. And by facing Collazo, Spence gets to outshine Thurman via a stellar performance against a shared opponent.