Errol Spence Jr. is the reigning IBF welterweight titleholder, undefeated in 24 fights and with 21 knockouts to his name—a record that makes him the heavy favorite for his March 16 bout, even against the also-undefeated Mikey Garcia at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. But even in the lead-up to the biggest matchup of his career in front of a hometown crowd, he wants to talk about another skill in his repertoire: cooking. Spence Jr. is an eager learner in the kitchen, a habit he picked up from watching his parents and now develops by perusing the Cooking Channel and various Instagram accounts.
Of course, there’s only so much a professional boxer can eat before a fight, when the name of the game is hitting a specific weight. That doesn’t stop him from doing a little experimenting with basic dishes, though, or from carefully considering different restaurants to post up at once he can pack on the pounds again. We asked Spence Jr. to talk through some of his favorite meals—some more unorthodox than others—as well as just how strict his diet gets before a fight. We failed, however, to get him to reconsider his slanderous In-N-Out takes.