It’s officially been over a year since Errol Spence Jr. fought Terence Crawford at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. And now, the former welterweight champion is looking back at the fight, which seems to have derailed his career. The Ring Magazine pound-for-pound fighter was no match for the Omaha, Nebraska native. 

In fact, the fight was an utter destruction of Spence’s credibility as one of the elites in the sport, which ended with a 9th round stoppage loss for Spence. While there’s a rumored bout against WBC and WBO super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora, where he could redeem himself, the past seems to be haunting the former champion.

It was all bad for Errol Spence Jr.

Spence hopped on his Instagram story earlier today to write, “I’ll forever take the good with the bad  & vice versa” while sharing a clip of his skirmish with Terence Crawford last year. It’s not quite clear when his rumored bout against Fundora may transpire, but him walking away from longtime trainer Derrick James makes it difficult for him to prove he is still one of the elites in the division.

Spence’s former opponent and ProBox TV analyst, Shawn Porter, is lost in a similar conundrum, who speculated whether Spence has still got the dog in him—can he approach his fights like a heat-seeking missile like he used to? “If Errol Spence doesn’t come back aggressive. if he doesn’t come back trying to get into the wheelhouse, trying to break guys down the way he used to, the No. 1 [thing] I want to see from that standpoint: Is it a true game plan or are you really just hesitant”, Porter asked.

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Porter later added that all he wants to see is Spence being Spence again. To Spence’s credit, he has laid out his plans to get back at Crawford down the line.

Terence Crawford is still the ultimate goal

Right after their first fight had concluded, Spence Jr. had the option to activate his rematch clause in the contract to face Crawford a second time, but that didn’t happen. Meanwhile, Crawford himself hasn’t fought since that fateful night, but Crawford will take on Israil Madrimov this weekend at the BMO Stadium, Los Angeles.

Regardless, Spence, in a video shared by Backmansports, said, “It looks like Fundora probably in November or January, then we going to line it back up [with Terence Crawford]”. Fundora has also confirmed he will face Spence Jr. over his mandatory Crawford down the line. Meanwhile, Crawford himself hasn’t let go of the possibility of potentially facing Spence a second time.

The road ahead for Errol Spence Jr. seems hard—a strong win against Fundora will get some of his reputation restored. However, to achieve his former glory, a fight against Terence Crawford is the only answer. Do you agree? And does he stand a chance?