Despite rumors having swirled of a split between Errol Spence Jr and his coach Derrick James for the past two months, neither individual outright confirmed this happened. However, Ryan Garcia, who is currently being coached by Derrick James, potentially exposed some upsetting news as he seemingly confirmed Spence and James had parted, or are at the very least at odds, due to a dispute over pay.
An interview that Derrick James had held with media platform Cigar Talk last March did confirm that there was some sort of issue going on between him and Errol Spence Jr (28-1, 22 KO’s), with James admitting to not have been actively training or speaking with Spence since presumably the July 29th match last year that saw Errol Spence lose decisively to Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KO’s) in an undisputed welterweight bout.
“I mean, I don’t really… I’m focused on my other guys so I’m really not… I haven’t… I talked to him three weeks ago or whatever but you just got to focus on everybody―you can’t look back,” James stated during the interview. “That’s the issue, everybody keeps looking back, and you can’t move forward [if] you looking back; you going to bump into everything in front of you.
“Mentally, I guess he’s okay.“
With the two having worked together for over a decade since Spence was an amateur boxer, James’ statements proved to be significant as it indicated there was at least some discord between them. Notably, Derrick James’ interview did not to confirm whether Spence had actually left James’ camp, and mostly indicated the two were merely not communicating regularly which does suggest Spence had not trained with James for a decent period of time.
However, with neither of the two forthcoming about whether they actually separated or whether they’re at odds, Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s) has become an unlikely source after he held a public and open discussion on Twitter/X.
“F*** Errol Spence [Jr],” Garcia stated during a live public forum. “F*** you, motherf*****. You folded. You didn’t want to pay him [Derrick James] some money. That’s f****** up.
“It’s all business, but still―at the end of the day, [it’s] some f***** up s***. How I pay him more, on a fight I [got paid] less [for]? The f***? And he’s been with you your whole career. What the f*** is wrong with you?“
With Ryan Garcia having joined Derrick James’ stable of fighters last year, he does appear to be in the position to be more knowledgeable about his coach’s dealings with Errol Spence Jr. In spite of that, the validity of Garcia’s claims, which accuse Spence of refusing to pay James―following his July 29th bout against Crawford, still did not confirm whether Spence had actually left Derrick James’ stable.
Judging by James’ statements on Spence, there is at least a lack of regular contact between them, which only drives more questions as to the recent intentions by Spence to attempt to fight the winner of Tszyu-Fundora for his titles at 154 lbs.
Those same intentions turned into an actual attempt following Sebastian Fundora’s (21-1, 13 KO’s) victory over Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KO’s) that saw Fundora become the WBC and WBO super welterweight champion on March 30th, with Spence actually getting into the ring to face off with Fundora to tease a potential future fight.
“It’s going on. He [Sebastian Fundora] got the big dog now. Let’s go!” Were Spence’s words when he was brought in the ring shortly after Fundora won.
While a match between Errol Spence Jr and Sebastian Fundora may yet occur after Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe hinted that Spence’s relationship with PBC could help him get a fight against Fundora, the feasibility of this match is dependent on whether Spence actually has a coach or not.
And with Spence not having been spotted in a gym for some time according to Derrick James, it is unlikely the former unified welterweight champion will be in shape and ready for any fight, anytime soon.
