By Sean Reed

If you're losing patience over the dearth of names on the ledger of Errol "The Truth" Spence, Jr., join the club.  But duly note, no one's more anxious to see Spence inserted into the mix with recognizable welterweights than the undefeated, 2012 U.S. Olympian himself. 

"I'll get one of those names in 2016," Spence (18-0, 15 KO's) said in preparation for his forthcoming fight later today vs. Alejandro "El Eligido" Barrera (28-2, 18 KO's). 

The bout will be the co-main event of the nationally televised "Premiere Boxing Champions" broadcast, live from The Bomb Factory in downtown Dallas, Texas., and shown on NBC (3pm EST). 

PBC founder, Al Haymon, has traditionally eschewed a promoter's license and as such, enlisted the aid of Texas' largest, most consistent current promotional entity Leijah-Battah Promotions (in association with T.G.B. Promotions and Triple D Fights), to oversee the event.

"E.J.", short for "Errol Jr.", was careful not to be dismissive of Barrera's chances, nor should he be, considering "El Eligido" is trained by the one and only Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain. Beristain, an International Boxing Hall of Famer and Mexico's preeminent chief second, has manned the corners of Daniel Zaragoza, Humberto "Chiquita" Gonzalez, Ricardo Lopez and the Marquez brothers, Juan Manuel and Rafael, to name a few. Still, it would be an understatement to say Spence was heavily favored in his first pro outing in Dallas. 

So while one eye is on the task at hand, the other is on the next phase of his young career. 

"Keith Thurman says he wants 10 mil to fight me, but Berto didn't even get that for Floyd," Errol Jr. noted.  "We tried Chris Algieri and Luis Collazo, but they didn't want it, either." 

Then there's Mike Arnaoutis, Leonard Bundu and Roberto Garcia - all pulled out at the last minute in consecutive fights.  Not to mention the likes of Josesito Lopez, Alfonso Gomez and the aforementioned Andre Berto, who Team Spence set sights on as early as Spence's second year as a pro.

It's not for lack of trying, but the names just haven't found their way into the squared circle with Spence, as of yet.  In the meantime, he's carving a niche in the IBF by beating # 7 ranked Chris Van Heerden and acquiring a trinket called the International title in his most recent outing.  Saturday's bout is a 12 round eliminator and could get Spence ranked as high as # 3 in the world. 

They say patience is a virtue; Team Spence is hoping it pays dividends in 2016.