WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence is aiming to stop and retire the legendary Manny Pacquiao in their eagerly-awaited clash in Las Vegas on August 21.
The Texan southpaw has also confirmed that there is no rematch clause and that VADA testing will be in place for the showdown between elite 147-pounders, at a venue to be decided, in two months’ time.
“I’m preparing my body to get into training camp mode and do the best that I can, to get into the best shape that I can and be as strong as I can, to knock out Manny Pacquiao and send him off into retirement,” Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) told ‘Barbershop Conversations’.
“I expect the same Manny Pacquiao that we get every time. He’ll come to fight and I’ll definitely come to fight. I’ll be a lot stronger and physically better than my previous fight [W12 Danny Garcia last December].
“If [Pacquiao is] looking at [the Garcia bout for weaknesses], he should be looking at the Chris Algieri, Lamont Peterson and the Kell Brook fight[s]. If he’s looking at the last fight for weakness, he’s going to be in trouble.”
Spence also revealed that he was close to agreeing a fight with Cuban WBA champion Yordenis Ugas before the possibility of a Pacquiao bout came into the equation. Filipino great Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) hasn’t fought since a split decision win over Keith Thurman in July 2019, but has been continually linked with high profile opponents in the interim.
“Ugas was in play. If I didn’t get the Pacquiao fight, I was going to fight Ugas for the WBA [Super belt]. Now that I got the Pacquiao fight, [Ugas is] on the backburner,” added Spence.
