Errol Spence Jr. (22-0, 19 KOs) figures to be one of the rising stars in American boxing, and the 27-year-old proved his worth as an elite welterweight by winning the IBF title from Kell Brook back in May. Spence’s next fight won’t be until January 2018, as he defends his title against veteran contender Lamont Peterson (35-3-1, 17 KOs) on Showtime.
While many boxing fans would take interest in Spence fighting WBA and WBC champion Keith Thurman, or even arguable #1 pound-for-pound fighter Terence Crawford (who is moving up to 147 after unifying all of the major 140-pound titles), we could’ve seen Spence against Miguel Cotto on HBO this December. However, as ESPN’s Dan Rafael reported, Spence opted not to join Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions for a long-term deal.
Spence, who is a promotional free agent, elected to go with the Peterson fight as set up by adviser Al Haymon rather than accept an offer to sign with Golden Boy Promotions, which promoted his first 15 fights and has been after him. Golden Boy offered him $2.5 million to challenge junior middleweight world titleholder Miguel Cotto (41-5, 33 KOs) on Dec. 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York in an HBO fight Cotto has said will be his final bout. Spence turned down the deal that would have also included a longer-term promotional agreement with Golden Boy and an exclusive contract with HBO, according to sources with knowledge of the offer.
However, according to one of the sources, Spence was promised $3.5 million by Haymon for his next fight to stay with him. Spence didn't get into the specifics of the offer but said he was indeed offered a deal by Golden Boy and simply was not interested.
"The offer was made from Golden Boy. I mean, everybody's been trying to get me if you're a promoter since I turned pro. And I just declined," Spence said. "I don't want a promoter right now. I feel like I'm starting my own promotional company, probably later next year and do my own thing. I'm already fighting on network [television], I'm already the main event, and I'm already getting great money. So I don't see what a promoter can offer me."
Cotto has instead been booked to fight Sadam Ali (25-1, 14 KOs) for the Puerto Rican star’s final fight of his career.
It’s certainly an interesting nugget that Spence was an option and that Errol is looking to self-promote instead of go to Oscar De La Hoya’s promotion. If given the option to fight Cotto or Peterson, Cotto is the bigger name, but Spence evidently went for the better payday (and presumably to stay at welterweight, as opposed to moving up to 154).