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One of the major storylines surrounding the career of Errol Spence Jr. is just how much longer the big-bodied boxer could compete at 147 pounds.
The WBC and IBF welterweight champion has been hinting for a while about his inevitable move up to the super welterweight division.
But first, Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) will further try to unify the championships in the welterweight weight class when he takes on WBA champion Yordenis Ugas in a Showtime pay-per-view event at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday.
Ahead of the fight, Spence documented his training and diet regimen in the second episode of the Showtime series “All Access,” which is available in its entirety on YouTube.
“If I don’t train as hard, it’s going to dawn on me during fight night. I’m kind of a worry freak. It’s all your fault when somebody exploits you and brings out that weakness that you already knew you had but you didn’t change the results of. Better do it now and not have to worry about it,” said Spence.
“I’m doing everything, training hard, sparring hard, running hard. You know, I’m ready to fight come April 16th. I’m leaving no stones unturned.”
Once such stone is with Spence employing a full-time nutritionist for the first time in preparation for a fight.
“Weight has always been an issue for me. As I got older, you know, it gets a lot harder. So it’s been a real serious issue for me,” said the 32-year-old Spence.
“In the old school, there’s the whole not drinking the water, you know, eating less, you know you’re always hungry, you’re always thirsty. And then that, you know, affects your mood.
“This is my first time, like, going all the way through with a nutritionist. They take care of you and make sure you’re drinking, you ask questions. It’s a good thing not having to rely on myself and rely on him to make work easy. All I gotta do is just focus on the fight and focus on training and working hard.”
Spence has previously admitted climbing up all the way up to 190 pounds when he’s not training for a fight.
He will be fighting for just the second time since Sept. 2019.
After recovering from a near-fatal car crash and a retina injury that forced him to pull out of a fight against Manny Pacquiao, Spence is ready to resume his career.
Should he pull off the resounding victory, it will be partly due to his nutritionist.
“I’m ready to fight come April 16th. I’m always smart in the ring, but I’m definitely gonna be a lot stronger with my new additions to camp,” said Spence.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.