Errol Spence Jr.: Eye injury that took me out of Manny Pacquiao fight could have been career-ending

Errol Spence Jr. says he received dire warnings from doctors who examined the eye injury that forced him out of his welterweight title fight vs. Manny Pacquiao.

“You don’t want to lose your eye.”

“You gotta get this fixed ASAP.”

Spence told ESPN on Thursday that he suffered a retinal detachment/break in his left eye while sparring. He sparred again two days after the injury but didn’t feel right. He had a scheduled checkup with a specialist in Dallas the next day; he was told then he should stop sparring. 

He then had his scheduled prefight exam Aug. 9 in Las Vegas, where he was ruled unfit to fight. Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) announced his withdrawal Aug. 10 and underwent surgery Aug. 11 to repair the injury.

Spence’s replacement, Yordenis Ugas, defeated Pacquiao by unanimous decision on Aug. 21. 

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“It’s a career-ending injury for a lot of other boxers,” Spence told ESPN. He added he is “grateful” he caught the injury in time. He told ESPN he won’t be able to spar for another two months.

The 31-year-old Spence has fought just once since being critically injured in a high-speed vehicle crash in Dallas in 2019. He defeated Danny Garcia last December to retain his IBF and WBC belts.

It was with the crash in mind that he tweeted, “I (c)ame back from worse” after bowing out of the Pacquiao fight.