DALLAS _ Boxer Errol Spence, a welterweight boxing champion from DeSoto, Texas, was seriously injured Thursday morning when he crashed a Ferrari near downtown Dallas.
Police said the 29-year-old is expected to survive his injuries but remains in intensive care. Premier Boxing Champions spokesman Tim Smith confirmed his identity, along with Dallas police.
Smith said Spence's parents were with him at Methodist Dallas Medical Center and that the boxer's injuries were not considered life-threatening.
The single-car crash occurred around 3 a.m. when Spence lost control at high speed in the 500 block of South Riverfront Boulevard, police said. The car flipped multiple times and ejected Spence, who was not wearing a seat belt, police said.
The driver was taken to Methodist Dallas Medical Center with serious injuries, police said.
Video footage showed the Ferrari rolling over multiple times in the high-speed crash.
Spence's last bout occurred Sept. 28 when he won a hard-fought battle over Shawn Porter to secure the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation welterweight titles and improve to 26-0.
Porter said on Twitter that he hopes for a speedy recovery for his competitor.
"I'm praying for @ErrolSpenceJr & his family because he has a lot of life to live," he wrote.
Before the fight with Porter, Spence told The Dallas Morning News that he hoped a victory would launch him to stardom.
"This is what everybody is pushing for," Spence said. "Floyd (Mayweather Jr.) is out now and everybody wants to be that pay-per-view king and it's definitely one of my ambitions, one of my goals. To be a pay-per-view fighter and pay-per-view king, every fight counts, especially this one and you got the networks and the only thing they care about is numbers. You have to put up great numbers so you can get back on Fox pay-per-view."
