Former world champion Errol Spence Jr has officially announced his retirement from boxing at the age of 36 after suffering back-to-back career defeats.
The Long Island-born fighter confirmed his decision to hang up his gloves in his post-fight interview on Sunday, after falling to defeat against 31-year-old Tim Tszyu.
When asked if his career had come to an end following the unanimous decision loss in Australia, Spence said: ‘I think, yeah. For sure.’
Expanding on his reasoning, the 36-year-old said: ‘I’ve got my faculties intact. My money is good at working for itself. Everything’s good, man.
‘I’ve got a beautiful family and I thank God I’m grateful to leave this sport with my faculties intact and my family still by my side,’ he added.
The abrupt announcement came after he suffered his second-ever career defeat, following a grueling 12-round bout against Tszyu in Sydney.
Former world champion Errol Spence Jr has officially announced his retirement from boxing
His decision to retire comes after his defeat to Australian boxer Tim Tszyu on Sunday
Judges officially scored the bout 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111 in favor of the Australian, who outlanded Spence 190 to 157 – despite the American attempting more punches.
Speaking after his victory, Tszyu hailed Spence as ‘one of the greats’ of his era.
‘I had sleepless nights thinking about, ‘What am I going to feel like facing a legend like that?’ But it was one hell of a show and I understand why he’s one of the greats.
‘I’d love to fight for a title. That’s what I’m aiming for. But I’ve got to say beating a great like Errol Spence tops a world title’.
Spence walks away from the sport with an impressive 28-2 professional record – including 22 victories by way of knockout. The Texas-raised star previously unified the WBC, WBA and IBF world titles at welterweight.
During his prime, Spence established himself as one of the pound-for-pound greats in the sport, defeating the likes of Kell Brook, Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia.
His trajectory shifted, however, following a terrifying car crash in Dallas in October 2019, where his Ferrari tumbled multiple times and he was thrown from the vehicle.
The Texas-raised star previously unified the WBC, WBA and IBF world titles at welterweight
Spence came up short in his highly-awaited bout against Terence Crawford back in 2023
Recently retired Crawford was in attendance in Australia to cheer on Spence on Sunday
According to Dallas Police, Spence’s Ferrari 488 Spider had been travelling ‘at a high rate of speed’ before the crash. He made his return to the ring just 14 months later.
Eventually, his unbeaten run came to an end in July 2023, when he was stopped in nine rounds by Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford in a long-awaited welterweight clash.
The victory meant that Crawford, who was in attendance this weekend, became the first undisputed welterweight champion since 2006 and the first male boxer in the four-belt era to claim undisputed championship status in two weight divisions.
Following a three-year layoff prior to stepping into the ring with Tszyu, Spence’s final bout marks the end of a decorated career for one of America’s greatest ever boxers.
