Errol Spence Jr and his team are currently working out the first defense of his welterweight title. Reportedly the fight will take place either at the very end of this year, or the very beginning of 2018. Luis Collazo and Lamont Peterson are the two names currently being discussed as potential opponents for the date.
Errol Spence Jr (22-0, 19 KOs) won the IBF welterweight title in a thrilling, come from behind eleventh round TKO victory on the road in the UK over Kell Brook. Spence, 27, is one of the most dynamic fighters in the sport and is nearly universally considered a huge part of the future of boxing in the US, if not the world. Reportedly he will be making his first defense either in December at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island or in January at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. Former titleholders Luis Collazo (37-7, 20 KOs) and Lamont Peterson (35-3-1, 17 KOs) are the two opponents under consideration.
Luis Collazo last scored a big win in 2014 when he upset Victor Ortiz via early knockout. He is 2-2 since then with the two losses being fairly wide to top fighters in Amir Khan and Keith Thurman. His most recent fight was a highlight reel knockout win over fringe contender Sammy Vasquez though.
Lamont Peterson’s darkest hour came when he was wiped away in three by Lucas Matthysse in 2013, but he is 4-1 since then and easily could be unbeaten. Three fights ago Peterson lost a very close decision to Danny Garcia. On that night Peterson started extremely slow and gave most of the early rounds away before rallying and putting on a pretty dominant display late in the fight that turned out to be slightly too late. Since then he has picked up consecutive good wins against Felix Diaz and David Avanesyan, though it should be noted that many thought Diaz won their fight.
Neither option is terrible, but neither is particularly great either. If we are stuck between these two, Lamont Peterson is the better fight in my view.
Source: ESPN’s Dan Rafael
