Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence share an enormous amount of respect for each other. This fact became immediately apparent at the kick-off press conference to promote their August 21 fight date.
Manny Pacquiao acknowledged there were easier fights available to him than Errol Spence. “I want a real fight,” Manny explained his reason for choosing Spence. “I want to give a good fight to the fans.”
Errol Spence says he did not give things a second thought when he received an offer to fight the boxing legend from the Philipines.
Both men talked of the specific challenges faced when preparing for the other. For Pacquiao, the last southpaw to share the ring with him was 13 years ago. He admits this made his present training camp different from the many others before.
“I can’t find anybody that fights like Manny Pacquiao,” Errol Spence began when explaining how he chose the sparring partners for his training camp. Spence went on to say he looked for left-handed fighters who could mimic the pace and tempo with which Pacquiao fights.
Media members and fans watching the press conference laughed at the exchange that took place when the moderator asked Spence about Floyd Mayweather Jr. reaching out to him in preparation for the fight. “He hasn’t reached out to me yet,” Spence was answering the questions when Pacquiao decided to voice an opinion.
“Errol don’t need to have advice from Mayweather,” Pacquiao told the listening audience. “He is better than Mayweather.”
The last outing for Manny Pacquiao was two years ago when he defeated top welterweight Keith Thurman. The fight happened at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas and earned Pacquiao the WBA welterweight title.
Errol Spence turned in a dominant performance against Danny Garcia last December at AT&T Stadium. Spence’s win over Garcia was his first time in the ring after a life-threatening car accident in 2019.
Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence conducted themselves like gentlemen at the first press conference to promote their August super fight. But the intensity in both men was clear enough to convince fight fans that the action in the ring will live up to the hype surrounding the event.