Unified welterweight world champion Spence Jr. would love to fight in ancestral home Jamaica
Undefeated WBC and IBF champion Errol Spence Jr. has expressed the hope of one day fighting in Jamaica, a place to which he still has strong connections.
Although the 30-year-old pugilist was born in the United States, his father Errol Spence is a Jamaican who still has roots in the town of Axe and Adze in the parish of Hanover.
Last month, the boxer scored a unanimous victory over number one contender Danny Garcia, in his first fight since a serious motor vehicle accident in 2019.
While the boxer will be content to relax and enjoy the fruits of his labour, for now, he admits staging a fight in his ancestral home sometime in the future would be a dream come true.
“I want to fight in Jamaica. Hope I can make that happen, hopefully, it will be a big event where I still have all of my titles. It’s something that I really wanted, it something that my dad wanted me to do as well. It’s something we talked about even when I was an amateur so hopefully, we can make that happen,” Spence Jr. told Talking Sports.
“I think I will be able to fight there. I want to be among those great names. Guys like Mike McCallum, guys that could really fight. His name was the body snatcher and I’ve watched him sometimes, how he went to the body well, how tough he was.”
The last major fight in Jamaica came in 2012 when Jamaica's Nicholas 'The Axeman' Walters, defeated Daulis Prescott at Jamaica's National Indoor Sports Centre.
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Boyz coach McClaren eyes redemption in tough Honduras clash
Jamaica’s senior Reggae Boyz head coach Steve McClaren acknowledges that getting his first win in their second League A Group B Concacaf Nations League encounter away to Honduras will by no means be easy, but he remains optimistic about a positive outcome in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday.
Game time is 9:00pm Jamaica time.
Coming off a frustrating goalless draw against Cuba at home, McClaren knows his team must find a way to bounce back if they want to remain in contention for a quarterfinal spot, as they sit fourth on a point. Honduras and Nicaragua head the standings with three points each.
Only the top two teams will secure quarterfinal spots, as well as spots in the next edition of the Concacaf Gold Cup.
While he has no doubt in his squad’s ability to rise to the occasion in the crucial encounter, McClaren did not shy away from the reality of the difficult task ahead, especially in hostile territory.
“Coming here for us is a big challenge, a huge challenge and one which I expect my players to accept and to deal with and we work to get a result,” McClaren said in a pre-match press conference.
“That's three points. It's a step towards qualification for the quarterfinals and that's still the target. We played one game and we played very well, even though we didn't get the result. We need to really play well tomorrow (Tuesday) and fight as a team to get a result to put us back in contention to qualify,” he added.
Despite dominating possession and creating several chances in their opening contest against Cuba, the Jamaicans failed to convert, leaving McClaren feeling they could have done more to secure the win.
It is for that reason why he believes that the key to success against Honduras will be to maintain their composure, execute their game plan, and, more importantly, take advantage of scoring opportunities when they arise.
The two teams last met at the National Stadium in 2023, when Jamaica won 1-0 courtesy of Demarai Gray’s strike. Prior to that in 2021, Jamaica bettered the Central Americans 2-0 in their own backyard, a feat they will be hoping to repeat against Reinaldo Rueda’s side on this occasion.
“It will be a very difficult game. I think Honduras has progressed from the years that Jamaica played them; they are a better team now than they were a year ago and results show that. But we take it one game at a time and we take tomorrow (Tuesday) night as the next one,” McClaren said.