IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence is targeting a fight with Manny Pacquiao after his September 28 showdown with Shawn Porter.
He spoke to TMZ Sports about his plans after his upcoming bout:
He said, “I’m looking for Manny Pacquiao after this.”
Spence was asked about the possibility of facing Terence Crawford, but he’s eyeing the Filipino veteran.
“I definitely want the Manny Pacquiao [fight],” he added. “I mean, he’s a Hall of Famer, he’s a legend, he’s fought the best fighters of my era and the past era.”
With Pacquiao now 40, Spence is eager to get in the ring with him before he hangs up his gloves. “You never know when Pacquiao’s gonna retire, so I definitely want to get that fight,” he said.
he 29-year-old was also asked about the possibility of Floyd Mayweather Jr. coming out of retirement to fight Pacquiao in a rematch of their May 2015 bout.
“I don’t wanna see it,” he said. “Floyd made enough money; let the young guys make some money.”
The American urged Mayweather to remain retired with his undefeated record, but he did concede, “I would fight Mayweather if I was Manny Pacquiao.”
Mayweather, 42, retired after beating Andre Berto in 2015. He stepped into the ring once again two years later to fight UFC star Conor McGregor in a crossover fight, extending his record to 50-0.
Since facing McGregor, his only fight was an exhibition against kickboxing star TenshinNasukawa on New Year’s Eve in 2018, which Money won in 139 seconds.
Pacquiao is still going, however, and he won the WBA (Super) welterweight title from Keith Thurman when they met in July.
Spence’s upcoming opponent, Porter, is also eyeing a fight with Pac-Man:
It’s easy to see why the pair are so eager to face the legend, as he’s still drawing lucrative audiences to his fights, per ESPN’s Dan Rafael and The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger:
Dan Rafael @danrafaelespn
The Manny Pacquiao-Keith Thurman welterweight world title fight last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena generated a gate of $6,260,275 from 11,436 tickets sold, according to figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. There were… https://t.co/ryZI8cXar7
Mike Coppinger @MikeCoppinger
Sources tell the @TheAthleticBOX the Manny Pacquiao-Keith Thurman FOX PPV generated in the neighborhood of 500,000 buys, a success given pre-fight projections #PacquiaoThurman
Spence, 25-0, won the IBF welterweight title from Kell Brook in 2017 and has since defended it against Lamont Peterson, Carlos Ocampo and Mikey Garcia.
He’ll be an attractive opponent for Pacquiao (62-7-2) if he overcomes Porter.