Ronnie Shields: Errol Spence Will Return Better Than Ever After Three-Year Layoff

“The first thing I told him was, ‘You’ve been working out, right?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to put you through some hard workouts. It’s not going to be easy. I want six hard rounds, and I’ll determine then if I think we can continue.’ It was no problem.”

“I gave him a whole week,” Shields continued. “I said, ‘If I think you should continue, I’m going to let you know that. If I don’t think you should continue, I’m going to let you know that.’ After the first week, everything went great. He felt good. I put him through some hard workouts, and he was able to handle them.”

Shields also dismissed the idea that Spence had spent the last three years sitting on the sidelines.

“He never stopped working. That’s the thing people don’t understand. They think he was off for three years. No, he wasn’t. He kept on working by himself.”

Spence has not fought since suffering the first defeat of his professional career against Terence Crawford in July 2023. His last victory came against Yordenis Ugas in April 2022, when he unified the WBA, WBC, and IBF welterweight titles. He faces former WBO junior middleweight champion Tszyu in a 158-pound catchweight bout in Sydney, Australia.

Asked how many fights Spence has left, Shields said the former champion isn’t looking beyond Tszyu.

“He said, ‘I just want to prove to myself that I can come back and do my best. That’s what it’s all about.’”