Many fans believe Errol Spence Jr was hurt and lucky to avoid a knockdown in his last fight, but the unified welterweight champion has a very different story.
In a promotional feature for his upcoming undisputed bout with Terence Crawford, Spence is having a new gumshield made – one he’s assured will be the most accurate he’ll ever have.
This protection has been tricky for the unified champ ever since a horror car crash in 2019 left him in intensive care.
He was motivated to get a new shield after Yordenis Ugas knocked his last one out of his mouth in their 2022 fight.
Spence claims that he wasn’t hurt from the shot that saw him turn his back and ultimately fall into the ropes, just attempting to avoid an embarrassing moment.
“The Ugas fight, I had a partial in my mouth that I had to glue in everyday. The sixth round, he hit me and my mouthpiece came out. But I’m just thinking that my teeth came out. Man, that would’ve been super embarrassing.
‘Man if my teeth are out it’s gonna be memed everywhere. This is gonna be all over social media.’
I wasn’t even worried about getting knocked out, I was just like I gotta find my teeth. It wasn’t to the point where I was hurt, I [checked] they were still in my mouth and that’s when I smiled, cause I still had my teeth. It’s funny now, but it wouldn’t have been funny if my partial fell out.”
He would go on to win the fight by tenth round stoppage.
Spence says the mouthpiece is one less thing he has to think about now, but he has plenty left in the form of Crawford. The two undefeated fighters will make history on October 29 in Las Vegas.