By: Sean Crose
“It used to mean a lot more to me back when I was younger,” Errol Spence says on a video posted by ES News, “but right now it’s more about legacy. It’s more about getting a huge payday.” The undefeated WBA, IBF and WBC welterweight champion will quickly be going through WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford in a battle to search out out who would be the division’s undisputed king. Yet the 28-0 Texan Spence seems to have a fairly expanded view of issues. Being undisputed is nice, however there are different issues of significance.
“At the end of the day,” he says within the video, “you see a lot of fighters, even in the Hall of Fame, either they die broke or they were broke when they got into the Hall of Fame.” Sure sufficient, quite a lot of legendary boxers have ended up on the poorer facet of the road. Some have been robbed by unscrupulous associates, some have been the victims of their very own life selections, some have been suffering from sickness, and a few have merely fallen upon tough instances. In the present period, nevertheless, widespread fighters can demand huge sums of cash.
“With me it’s all about financial literacy,” says Spence, who will little question earn a ton when he squares off in opposition to Crawford in July, “and just making sure that I’m a hundred percent on point with my finances, so when it’s all said and done, I can retire peacefully (and) still be able to take care of my kids, still be able to do the things that I’ve been doing while I’m boxing.” Crawford has definitely made severe cash all through his profession, having confronted the likes of Kell Brook, Shawn Porter, and Mikey Garcia. Still, all these paydays possible pale to the form of payday he’ll make going through Crawford.
It’s value remembering, nevertheless, that Spence is certainly involved in extra than simply cash. As he himself says within the video: “It’s about legacy.” The undeniable fact that Spence brings up “legacy” earlier than “a huge payday” is telling. This isn’t a person merely seeking to money in. If that had been the case, he might do fairly effectively for himself preventing lesser abilities than Crawford. He may not make fairly the identical sums he’s going to make now, however he would do fairly effectively for himself nonetheless. There are certainly fighters who’ve plied their commerce solely for earnings. Spence doesn’t seem like that form of particular person, although he definitely desires to be paid and paid effectively.
And frankly, he deserves to be.
