Errol Spence Jr has been in the ring with two of boxing’s elites – professionally with Terence Crawford and in the gym with Floyd Mayweather.

The former unified welterweight champion was undefeated until he went up against ‘Bud’, losing by stoppage in the ninth of the historic undisputed encounter.

While that’s fresh in the mind, the 34-year-old must look much further back to recall the sparring with ‘Money’ Mayweather. Spence was 23 in the gym with a 36-year-old Floyd in the midst of a welterweight run and a catchweight victory over Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez.

Insiders have said the intense sparring was ‘a fight’ and nothing less, and Spence has claimed it lasted ten minutes after Mayweather called him ‘a b***h.’

Speaking now to FightHype he looks back on it more fondly, and has no problem praising Mayweather when asked what the difference between being in with him and Crawford is.

“It’s a big difference. Floyd is just different. I feel like he’s the best fighter… I don’t know about all time, he might be the best fighter of all time and if not he’s close. Two or three, not by far.

There’s different things that Floyd does. He was a lot older when I sparred him and there are just certain things he does that are real tricky. We’d get in the clinch and he was like squeezing my nose so I couldn’t breathe and stuff like that. Veteran, all-time type stuff. Mentally, by far I feel like he’s the best.”

Spence has been in talks to return for a first crack at super-welterweight against WBC and WBO Champion Sebastian Fundora. Nothing has been announced yet, and he is currently in promoter mode for Frank Martin’s fight against Gervonta Davis.