Spence excited to face Garcia
ARLINGTON, Texas — Errol Spence Jr. changed his lifestyle after escaping serious injury in a high-speed car wreck that led to misdemeanor drunken driving charges in Dallas and could have derailed a promising boxing career.
The welterweight champion moved out of downtown Dallas for a quieter life in the suburbs and got back to training once doctors cleared him to keep fighting. Now it’s time for Spence to get back in the ring.
Spence is set to defend his WBC and IBF titles Saturday night on against Danny Garcia at AT&T Stadium, another hometown bout for Spence and his second on the home field of the NFL team that adopted him, the Dallas Cowboys.
“This is the most important fight of my life,” said Spence, undefeated in 26 fights with 21 knockouts. “This is my redemption fight. This is my comeback fight. And I won’t accept anything less than a victory.”
In September 2019, Spence added the WBC welterweight title to his IBF strap with a thrilling split-decision victory over Shawn Porter in Los Angeles.
A month after beating Porter, Spence flipped his Ferrari while speeding on a Dallas street in the early morning hours. Spence was ejected but didn’t sustain any broken bones or fractures and was treated for facial lacerations. He said the go-ahead for training came after doctors told him he had no bleeding on his brain.
“I feel my accident helped me a lot with just basically put my feet on the ground and humbling myself and realizing that a lot of people don’t get a second chance,” the 30-year-old Spence said. “I feel like you’re going to see a better me overall and I’m here to show everybody why.”
The 32-year-old Garcia (32-6, 21 knockouts) is fighting for the first time since a 12-round decision in January over Ivan Redkach in which Garcia said his opponent bit him.
Garcia was supposed to fight Spence around the same time before Spence’s accident. Instead, the former two-division champion earned a second consecutive victory.
“Boxing is a sport of timing,” Garcia said. “And the time is now. I feel great. Had a tremendous camp. I did everything I was supposed to do.: