Errol Spence is targeting a fight with Manny Pacquiao after his Sept. 28 match with Shawn Porter. According to the IBF welterweight champion, once he defeats Porter, Pacman will come next.
"I'm looking for Manny Pacquiao after this," Spence told TMZ Sports.
Spence was asked if he was interested in a bout with Terence Crawford, but he said he's more interested in a fight with the Filipino champ.
"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."
Pacquiao is now 40, so Spence looking forward for a match makes a lot of sense since the veteran could hang up his gloves anytime soon. Asked about his opinion in the possibility of Pacquiao fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a rematch, the 29-year-old wasn't so keen on the idea.
"I don't wanna see it," he said. "Floyd made enough money; let the young guys make some money."
Spence then encouraged Mayweather to stay in retirement with an undefeated record, but went on to say that if he was Manny, he'd definitely would want to fight Mayweather.
After a victorious match versus Andre Berto four years ago, Mayweather announced his retired. However, he agreed to a fight with UFC star Conor McGregor in 2017, which extended his record to 50-0.
Since his win over McGregor, his only fight had been an exhibition agains Tenshin Nasukawa, the kickboxing star. Again, Mayweather was victorious.
As for Pacquiao, he is still on a roll. In July, he had been successful in gaining the WBA welterweight title from Keith Thurman.
But Spence isn't the only boxer eyeing Pacquiao. His upcoming opponent, Porter, is also looking to fight the veteran.
It's easy to understand why both Spence and Porter would want to have Manny as their next opponent. The 40-year-old is still drawing a lot of money to his fights, as noted by The Athletic's Mike Coppinger and ESPN's Dan Rafael:
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 — Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) July 26, 2019
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 — Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) July 26, 2019
Spence won the IBF welterweight title from Kell Brook in 2017. He has since defended against Mikey Garcia, Carlos Ocampo, and Lamont Peterson. He'll make an interesting opponent for Pacquiao if he wins against Porter.
