Sherdog Boxing: The Weekly Wrap

Here is a slowed down video of the Errol Spence Jr crash that shows his Ferrari flipping multiple times. Amazing to hear he survived with broken teeth and injuries he is expected to recover from pic.twitter.com/y7dKo40N9u

— J.D. Miles (@jdmiles11) October 10, 2019

Most people have by now likely heard that Errol Spence crashed his Ferrari and was injured to the point of needing to be kept in ICU. Reports indicate he miraculously did not suffer any bone fractures, only facial lacerations and broken teeth. While boxing obviously does not matter at a moment like this, there is inevitably going to be some fallout as far as the sport is concerned.

Spence is considered one of the good guys of the sport, but if it comes to light that he was either drunk or excessively speeding, that narrative is going to be under assault. The public has little sympathy for those who put others in danger on public roads and would likely have even less sympathy when it is a wealthy boxer in a sports car worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. If Spence can eventually get back to boxing, his story is either going to be an inspiring comeback story -- think Vinny Paz doing bench presses in the halo cast, even if Spence’s injuries are not as serious -- or a redemption story about learning from your mistakes. It all depends on what is determined to be the cause of the accident.

The other big result of the crash is that, unfortunately, Spence-Terence Crawford is officially dead. Maybe the fight happens years from now, but there is no way Spence fans will not be talking about a “pre-crash” Spence as an almost mythical figure that would have crushed Crawford if the fight happened this year. If boxing fans cannot accept the results of Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather because --despite Pacquaio still being a dominant welterweight in 2019 -- Mayweather never fought the 2008 version “Pac-man,” and if boxing fans will not accept the results of Meldrick Taylor-Julio Cesar Chavez 2 because -- despite the fact that Taylor won a welterweight title after the fact -- the first fight “ruined” Taylor, they are not going to be satisfied with “Bud” beating a Spence coming back from a horrific car crash like the one in which he found himself.

On a brighter note, video emerged of Adonis Stevenson hitting the heavy bag as part of his recuperation from being put in a coma by Oleksandr Gvozdyk. To be clear, Stevenson is in no way thinking about making a comeback as a fighter, but he spoke to local news outlets about how he is still so passionate about the sport that he is thinking about becoming a trainer to help get kids off the street. That would be great to see, and one would hope he would be especially cautious about stopping fights before his fighters take too much damage.

Saunders Gets Coceres on Paul-KSI Card

After a positive PED test kept current WBO 168-pound champion Billy Joe Saunders from making his United States debut in September, he will now make his first stateside appearance on the Logan Paul-KSI undercard on Nov. 9 in Los Angeles. There, he will meet Marcelo Esteban Coceres. As shameful as it may be to have a world champion fighting below a main event between two YouTube stars, it is not as if promoter Eddie Hearn found a seasoned, elite opponent to face Saunders. Coceres holds a 28-0 record with 15 knockouts, but he has not fought anyone noteworthy -- his last opponent was 7-5-5 -- and has competed only once outside of his native Argentina.

Fans were not happy with the fight and mocked Hearn for having said that Saunders’ decision to leave Frank Warren and sign with him represented his going to “the big leagues.” While Hearn claims a win stateside would put Saunders in line for a “monster” fight, the most honest assessment on the current state of Saunders’ career may have come from a Twitter jokester who took the famous video of his look-away taunt and gave it a snarky caption: “Billy Joe Saunders trying to see where his career went.” Speaking of that viral moment, the man Saunders taunted, David Lemieux, will also be competing at 168 pounds on Dec. 7, when he returns from a 15-month layoff to take on Max Bursak at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Price Replaces Parker, Faces Chisora

Long considered to be a fighter who never lived up to his hype and potential, David Price, ESPN’s 2012 “Prospect of the Year,” has stepped in for spider bite victim Joseph Parker and will face Dereck Chisora at the Regis Prograis-Josh Taylor card on Oct. 26. The 6-foot-8 Price is incredibly chinny and has been knocked out six times as a professional. Tony Thompson, Christian Hammer and Alexander Povetkin all put him away. It will be interesting to see if he can live up to his potential for at least one fight or if it will be another instance -- as Chisora claims -- of Price’s opponent yelling, “Timber!”

Alvarez Open to Golovkin Trilogy, Shoots Down Andrade as Potential Opponent

While Canelo Alvarez has made it abundantly clear for months that he does not feel the need to fight Gennady Golovkin a third time, the latter’s struggles against Sergiy Derevyanchenko may have put a crack in that stance. Alvarez now says that after his fight with Sergey Kovalev, he may fight GGG once more if the money is good enough: “He represents no challenge. However, he does represent good business. If they offer me something really good, maybe the third fight can happen.” Rumors have Golovkin fighting soft-punching Pole Kamil Szeremeta if he cannot get a third fight with Alvarez -- a hugely disappointing matchup for GGG.

One fight Alvarez remained adamant about not happening anytime soon is a showdown with WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade. Alvarez made it known that because he believes Andrade is a boring fighter who has not fought anyone, he does not want to face him and be blamed for a boring fight. He also said he does not view Andrade as a challenge without having proven himself first. Where that leaves Andrade remains unclear. Mandatory opponent Steven Butler is opting to fight Ryota Murata in Japan in December, and while he entered the ring after GGG’s win over Derevyanchenko, it did not create much buzz. It seems unlikely he will get anyone of note for his next bout.

Fury Rumored to Meet Braun Strowman in WWE Ring

If you thought a tight win over Otto Wallin would have Tyson Fury living inside the gym ahead of a Deontay Wilder rematch, then you would have been way off. Instead, Fury will supposedly face Braun Strowman at World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Crown Jewel” on Oct. 31 after he was involved in a “scuffle” with Strowman on Monday Night Raw.

This is one of those risk-reward scenarios that show Fury has a different mindset than most. While Fury knows he can be even more of a star if he enters the WWE ring, professional wrestling is a tough business. He will likely be doing only the most basic moves, but Strowman is billed as weighing 385 pounds. While that may not be true, he is more than big enough to take someone out for a long time if he lands on an ankle or knee. Fury has decided a foray into the WWE is worth the risk of losing out on the Wilder fight with an injury. Will it work out for him or will it backfire in a major way?