The last fight of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is now in the history books, and the search for the new face of boxing begins.
The expected 49-0 came to pass, and now Money May, as he announced, is officially retired. Loved or loathed, Floyd Mayweather has been the face of boxing for the past half decade.
So who would take the mantle? Mayweather, as majestic as he thinks he is, has actually anointed a successor. That's 25-year old Errol Spence, Jr, a welterweight with an 18-0 record.
ESPN recently named him as one of five candidates to become the face of boxing.
"Publicly endorsed by none other than Mayweather himself in recent months as the eventual successor to his P4P throne, the jewel of the 2012 U.S. Olympic class has very much looked the part throughout each step up in class," the site noted. "The soft-spoken Spence, 25, clearly lacks Mayweather's gift for gab as a marketer."
That would be the main difference with Floyd and his anointed one-the latter is very mild-mannered. Still, the young undefeated boxer was anointed as "The Truth" of boxing.
Ring TV recently had an extensive feature on Spence, and they introduce him to the casual boxing fan.
"You may have heard his name tossed around as the guy who was rumored to drop Adrien Broner in a sparring session or the sparring partner who gave Floyd Mayweather a black eye during his preparation for Robert Guerrero."
So who is he really? Spence is of Haitian descent, but he represented the USA in the 2012 Olympics, but he only made it to the quarterfinals.
Mayweather gave the confirmation of Spence's sparring tale. "When I was getting ready for Robert Guerrero, who is a southpaw, the first guy I started looking to spar with was a southpaw and Errol (Spence Jr.) was giving me really good work," Mayweather narrated, with emphasis on the word "really."
It was early in Spence's career, after only his third fight but the top boxer in the world liked what he saw from the boxer out of Dallas, Texas. "He pushed me hard and made me get in tip top condition. And once I was in tip top condition, I was ready and the best I could be. He's a hell of a fighter."
He recently dropped Chris Van Heerden on Sept.11, and told Boxing News 24: "I want the big fights and I want the big names."
The "big name" is probably Keith Thurman, currently WBA regular champion. Even Mayweather thinks it should happen.
"I think his (Spence) next fight should be against Keith Thurman for a world title. He's ready," Money told Ring TV.