The Texan returns to action for the first time in three years on July 26 against Tim Tszyu in Australia, having not fought since losing his WBC, WBA and IBF welterweight titles to Terence Crawford.

Spence will shake off some serious ring rust against Tszyu at a catchweight of 158 pounds, but his future beyond that seems an uncertain one.

“I already got my right foot hanging out the door,” Spence said when asked if he would retire if he lost against Tszyu. “You never know.”

Fighting Tszyu on away territory, he feels, will bring the best out of him. The Australian is a former WBO junior middleweight champion but has lost brutal fights with Sebastian Fundora, twice, and Bakhram Murtazaliev.

Spence wants to live in the moment, though, and not think too much about what the future holds. Facing the end of a career can be a daunting prospect for a lot of fighters.

Spence, admittedly, wasn’t sure what his life would look like without the sport he grew up loving. However, having experienced a small glimpse of what life is like without it, he isn’t scared hang up his gloves when the time comes.

“I enjoyed the three-year layoff,” Spence said. “It gave me a lot of clarity and it let me know that I’m okay with or without boxing, I’ll be okay. It’s a scary moment when you're used to being in the gym 24/7 all the time and you're not in the gym. There was a time where, when I ran into the boxing gym, my day was over. I wasn’t worried about nothing else. That was my only focus, that was it but it gave me a lot more clarity when I started focusing on my kids, and my family as a whole, and traveling, just enjoying life.”

Spence, 36, heads into the fight with new trainer Ronnie Shields in his corner.

Despite Spence's admission that he is thinking about the end of his career, Shields, who has worked with the likes of Pernell Whitaker, Vernon Forrest, and Evander Holyfield, likes what he sees in training camp.

“I think the layoff did him great,” Shields said. “The first day he came in the gym, I pushed him really hard. I just wanted to see what he had left, and he had more than I thought he had. He did everything better than I thought he could do, so I know that we’ve got a fresh fighter here and you guys are gonna see it in Australia.”