Boxing great Spence hospitalised after 'serious' car accident

WASHINGTON: Welterweight world champion Errol Spence was involved  in a one-car crash in Dallas but is expected to make a full recovery after sustaining facial lacerations, his management team said in a statement on Thursday.

"Errol Spence Jr, IBF/WBC unified welterweight world champion, was involved in a serious, single-car accident in Dallas early Thursday morning and is being treated at a Dallas-area hospital," the statement said.

"Spence is awake and responding and his condition is listed as stable. He did not sustain any broken bones or fractures, but has some facial lacerations. He is expected to make a full recovery."

Spence was treated in an intensive care unit after his white Ferrari rolled over multiple times just before 3 am local time, Dallas television station KTVT reported, citing police.

Police said Spence's vehicle was traveling at high speed when it went across a center median and flipped over several times, throwing the driver, identified as Spence, out of the car.

"He is currently resting with his family by his side," the statement said. "They want to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes and are extremely grateful to the Dallas first responders who rushed to the scene to attend to Errol after the accident and the doctors who are taking care of him at the hospital."

Spence, a 29-year-old southpaw, unified the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation titles two weeks ago with a split-decision victory over fellow American Shawn Porter in Los Angeles, improving to 26-0 with 21 knockouts.

"My dad always tells me 'this boxing thing is a part of your life but it's not going to last forever. U still have a lot of life to live after that,'" Porter tweeted. "With that, I'm praying for @ErrolSpenceJr & his family because he has a lot of life to live and I pray he recovers quickly & fully."

Spence, a welterweight quarter-finalist at the 2012 London Olympics, made his professional debut in 2012 and won his first world title, the IBF crown, by knocking out Britain's Kell Brook in England in 2017.

Spence defended the title four times, beating American Lamont Peterson and Mexico's Carlos Ocampo last year and American Mikey Garcia last March before his unification showdown triumph over Porter.

There had been early talk about a 2020 fight between Porter and reigning World Boxing Association welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, the 40-year-old Filipino icon who stands 62-7 with two drawn and 39 knockouts.

"Praying for @ErrolSpenceJr," Pacquiao tweeted.

Another possible future foe is World Boxing Organization champion Terrence Crawford, who tweeted: "Praying for you champ @ErrolSpenceJr get well we fighters I know you will."