Errol Spence Jr. vs. Maurice Lee - TBA

[Ruthless-RKO]

By Jim Maltzman: Welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. could be facing Mayweather Promotions fighter Maurice Lee in a tune-up in his next fight. The unranked 2nd tier fighter Lee (12-1-2, 5 KOs) revealed on social media that he has “great news” on him possibly facing IBF/WBC 147-pound champion Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) next.

This would be a comeback fight for Spence to get the cobwebs out before he takes on upper-level competition.

Spence vs. Lee would be the equivalent of an exhibition level match in terms of quality. It would be shocking if Spence faces Lee, and even more surprising if it’s shown on Fox Sports. On paper, it’s such a bad fight that it’s not worthy of being televised. Lee looked terrible in his recent clashes against journeyman fighters.

Will the sanctioning bodies approve Maurice Lee?

Spence vs. Lee would be a match pending approval by the IBF and WBC, considering that the 28-year-old Lee isn’t ranked in the top 15 by any of the four sanctioning bodies at this time. World champions are expected to defend against top-ranked contenders, and Lee doesn’t possess a ranking as of yet in the top tier.

Spence recently said that he wasn’t going to be taking a tune-up fight, and that would face Danny Garcia when he returns to the ring. But if what Lee is saying is correct about him being Spence’s next opponent, then it would make it clear that he wants a tune-up fight.

You can’t blame Spence, 29, for taking a warm-up match, as he’s coming off of a severe car crash on October 10, and he needs a minor-level contest before facing world-class opposition competition like Danny, Manny Pacquiao or Keith Thurman.

Maurice Lee vowing to ‘DOG’ Errol Spence



“I got some great news. Errol Spence, you’re going to get exactly what you asked for. I’m about to dog you like you stole something,” said Maurice Lee on social media in revealing that he’ll be fighting Errol next. “I come from the streets…I got some great news.

“Do you know how Adrien Broner fought Ashley Theophane? Errol Spence is about to fight Maurice ‘Victorius’ Lee and get his a** whooped. We’re all working. I need a lot of rounds. I boxed like 20-30 rounds straight now. I’m out here in Vegas. I’ll hit the gym later and train and staying ready,” said Lee.

The little known Mayweather Promotions fighter Lee looked horrible in his six-round unanimous decision loss to journeyman Cameron Krael (12-15-3, 4 KOs) in December 2016. Lee lost by the scores 59-55, 59-55, and 58-56. For most of the fight, Lee gave ground to Krael was just covering up using his Mayweather shoulder roll defense.

Since that loss, Lee has won five out of his last seven fights. In 2018 and 2019, Lee fought to a pair of fix-round draws against Ivan Pandzic and Lennard Davis. In Lee’s last three contests, he’s beaten the following lower-level fighters:

- Andre Byrd
- Ivan Pandzic
- Dakota Linger

Does Spence need to fight a 2nd tier guy?

If there’s this much concern about Spence about him coming back from his car crash, maybe he needs to vacate his IBF and WBC welterweight titles and use the next couple of years slowly working himself back into fighting the best.

For Spence to be making this move in fighting Lee, there has to be some severe worry. Has Spence been doing poorly during his sparring sessions? His team had to have something in Spence to make them want to start at the very beginning by matching him against a mediocre fighter like Lee.

Will Fox Sports be open to televising Spence’s fight with Lee? Boxing fans want to see quality fights, and this would be a terrible product for them if they put this fight, mainly if they sell it on pay-per-view. It would be on the level of Floyd Mayweather’s mismatch against Conor McGregor, who came into their match with an 0-0 record.

[margaret thatcher]

Never heard of Lee, this would be really soft even considering the comeback

[Stuarty]

Don't have a problem with him having a test run before taking on a big name. Makes perfect sense. Hope he comes through looking good and we can get the Crawford fight made some time next year but i won't hold my breath!

[Ruthless-RKO]

Never heard of Lee, this would be really soft even considering the comeback

Did people give Thurman crap for fighting Lopez? I can't remember.

[tiny_acres]

Never heard of Lee, this would be really soft even considering the comeback

Did people give Thurman crap for fighting Lopez? I can't remember.

Yes they gave Thurman crap.
I understand a tune up fight but this is a joke not a test

[Enlightened-One]

I don’t know anything about Maurice Lee. I have only just watched a couple of snippets of him competing on YouTube, but not enough to formulate an educated opinion.

However, from purely a statistical standpoint, Maurice Lee’s record is pretty bad.

Part of me expects Spence Jr. to dispose of Maurice Lee within a couple of rounds, but he needs to rid himself of ring rust, so perhaps ‘The Truth’ will take his time and force the stoppage sometime around the sixth.

I understand the reason why Spence Jr. is being matched against vastly inferior opposition, but I don’t expect many people to watch this fight.

[Syntax Error]

This would be one of the few times I would be happy to see an A grade fighter taking on a refuse collector.

Spence Jr needs to see if his body can survive the rigours of top flight professional boxing before taking on the big dogs again.

[margaret thatcher]

This would be one of the few times I would be happy to see an A grade fighter taking on a refuse collector.

Spence Jr needs to see if his body can survive the rigours of top flight professional boxing before taking on the big dogs again.

Well he's not getting any top flight pro boxing vs a guy who can barely win a round vs Cam Kreal.

[Onetimeonly]

Errol must need money.

[Cent0089]

I understand he needs easier fight after car crash. But this is just low.

[DazBoxingFan]

Don't have a problem with him having a test run before taking on a big name. Makes perfect sense. Hope he comes through looking good and we can get the Crawford fight made some time next year but i won't hold my breath!

Me neither especially after the type of accident he had. He doesn’t seem right in the interviews I’ve seen of him since

[Stuarty]

Don't have a problem with him having a test run before taking on a big name. Makes perfect sense. Hope he comes through looking good and we can get the Crawford fight made some time next year but i won't hold my breath!

Me neither especially after the type of accident he had. He doesn’t seem right in the interviews I’ve seen of him since

I've not seen him in any interviews yet mate. Saw a few pics of him afterwards and he looked like death warmed up!

[gregregegg]

This would be one of the few times I would be happy to see an A grade fighter taking on a refuse collector.

Spence Jr needs to see if his body can survive the rigours of top flight professional boxing before taking on the big dogs again.

Agreed Gives him a test camp. If he can make it through a decent camp he should beat this guy quick. but hard to fake a camp. you gotta get back in the swing, back under the lights. Give the reporters an opertunity to ask rattling DUI questions when it dosent realy matter, get that out of the way.
I just hope Lee is getting paiddd. because if spence is even 70% thats a bad beating..

[Steel City]

Spence has been cherry picking bums his whole career. He has one good win, Kell Brook that's it.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Spence has been cherry picking bums his whole career. He has one good win, Kell Brook that's it.

Shawn Porter?

[Switch hitter]

Spence has been cherry picking bums his whole career. He has one good win, Kell Brook that's it.

Instead of this....why not rematch Brook at 150lb. Brook broke his eye socket in the fight before which must have been on his mind against Spence ...... Spence just been in car crash which will be on his mind.