The pair of Texans have also long been two of the top faces for Premier Boxing Champions for better parts of a decade. Neither of them has fought since 2023, but Charlo and Spence have picked fights against each other in recent weeks despite what was once a cordial relationship, at least in the public eye.

Charlo called out Spence for a fight and even picked Spence to lose in his comeback clash against Tim Tszyu on July 25 at a venue to be announced in Australia. Spence was front and center Saturday in Las Vegas for a press conference to kick off the promotional tour, and a pressing topic was his ongoing beef with Charlo.

“We didn’t really have a falling out,” Spence told a group of reporters. “I mean, dude has been jealous of me. I guess he looked at me as like PBC’s golden boy. I’m trying to be solid, man. Most times you can’t be solid all the time. You got to listen to your intuition and not mess with people, how you mess with people. That’s just my courage to try to keep it solid, trying to be thorough. He mad at me, but we might handle that in the future.”

Spence, a southpaw from DeSoto, Texas, then took a shot at Charlo, claiming that the Houston native’s fights don’t equate to good business.

“The proof is the pudding – it’s a reason why he hasn’t had a fight yet,” Spence said. “And it’s the reason why I can say, ‘Hey, I wanna fight,’ and then I have a fight tomorrow. You know what I’m saying?

“People are tired of giving him fights, and then you get in the red because he’s fighting and he ain’t got any fans. Like, where can Jermell fight and sell out? He can’t even fight in Houston and sell out. Where is he fighting at?”

While Spence aimed at a newfound adversary, a former foe chimed in to provide general support ahead of his 158-pound catchweight fight against Tszyu.

“Good seeing you back out there. Get to it. I’ll be there supporting,” Terence Crawford said on social media.

Spence (28-1, 22 KOs), a former IBF, WBA and WBC welterweight champion, hasn’t fought since suffering a one-sided, ninth-round stoppage loss against Crawford in July 2023. Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs), a former undisputed junior middleweight champion, has been idle since he dropped a lopsided decision to then-undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in September 2023.

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.