This Saturday afternoon on Showtime, two of the most talented welterweights on the planet meet in Sheffield, England. IBF welterweight titlist Kell Brook will be defending on home turf when much hyped American super prospect Errol Spence Jr comes to town. This is a fight with huge implications for both the future of the welterweight division and both fan bases on either side of the Atlantic.
Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) first jumped on the scene with a dominant British welterweight title reign from 2008 to 2010 in which he went 6-0, all by stoppage. These fights were against domestic level opponents, a Michael Jennings for example, but the way Brook went completely unchallenged in them gave world notice that he was a real prospect internationally. Over the next few years he slowly took steps towards world level by fighting then fringe contenders such as Lovemore Ndou, Rafal Jackiewicz, and Matthew Hatton.
During the summer of 2012, Brook met the very underrated Carson Jones and had the first true test of his career. Brook barely won a majority decision in a fight in which he faded late. Two fights and one year later the two would rematch. This time the English fighter dominated, stopping Jones in eight and eliminating any questions created by their first night. Three months later, Kell won the biggest fight of his career against Hatton conqueror Vyacheslev Senchenko by fourth round stoppage.
This fight remains Kell Brook’s second biggest win in thirty seven fights and that fact speaks to the criticism he has received over the years. Senchenko at the time was coming off a body shot stoppage win that foiled Ricky Hatton’s comeback attempt. He was also a former world titlist with multiple defenses. This all sounds good in theory, but Senchenko’s title reign was about as fraudulent as they come. In four title fights, the Ukrainian fought no ranked competition. When he finally did, one fight before the Hatton fight, Senchenko was dominated and stopped by Paulie Malignaggi. Yes, stopped by Malignaggi. As for the Hatton fight, I think we can all agree Ricky was completely shot at that point.
Two fights after the Senchenko win, Brook found himself in a world title fight with Shawn Porter in the United States. Though neither fighter looked truly great, Kell Brook notched the one truly big win on his resume and a world title. That was 2014. Kell has defended the belt three times, but he might as well still be defending the British title for all the quality he has been getting in the ring. Ionut Dan Ion, Frankie Gavin, and Kevin Bizier all have absolutely no business in a title bout. Accordingly, the Sheffield fighter disposed them all within the first half of the fight.
Then, out of no where, he did something crazy by jumping two weight classes to challenge for Gennady Golovkin’s middleweight belts. I am sure anyone reading this remembers that fight well, but, in short, Brook fought really well early. Suffering a fractured eye socket, however, he was stopped in five in a really valiant effort.
The Golovkin fight begs the two most interesting questions about Brook’s chances against Spence. First, how will he feel back down at welterweight? Kell Brook has always been very big for the weight and it has never been easy for him to cut down, though he always has. After taking a fight at middleweight, it may even be harder to function at welterweight. Furthermore, there have been reports suggesting that Brook rapidly lost a lot of weight for this fight. While he looks well on pace to make weight, having to drop a ton is not beneficial to physical health. The process of dropping the weight also takes the focus of a camp rather than having it on the opponent where it should be.
Second, is Kell Brook physically okay? Golovkin broke his orbital bone. That is the hard bone in your cheek right below your eye. Imagine having that broken and then returning to taking punches eight months later. Errol Spence Jr hits very hard too. Will it hold up? Antonio Margarito was never the same after Pacquiao broke his orbital bone. The again, Margarito’s style is that he takes a shot on the face to land some of his own. Brook is a much more skilled fighter and therefore a potentially compromised orbital bone would be much less exposed. Still, the injury is definitely something to keep in mind.
Errol Spence Jr (21-0, 18 KOs) first made his name in the London 2012 games. He lost in the quarterfinals, but it was clear that he was a much better pro prospect than an amateur fighter. It seems appropriate then that Spence returns full circle back to England in his first world title shot.
Spence first stepped up to fighting true, competent professionals in 2015 when he took on Samuel Vargas. After stopping Vargas in four, Errol spent the next three fights wrecking guys on that level. These were pretty good fighters with good records, but they didn’t have the talent to compete with him. It wasn’t until April of last year that Spence Jr really broke out against Chris Algeri. This was a big step up as Chris Algeri had defeated Ruslan Provodnikov and lost a very competitive decision to Amir Khan. Manny Pacquiao dominated Algeri, but he had made it twelve.
He couldn’t make it twelve against Errol Spence Jr. He couldn’t even make it through five. Spence massacred Algeri, stopping the former titlist in the fifth round of an extremely one sided fight. If that wasn’t enough, Spence followed it up with destroying Leonard Bundu in equally easy fashion. Bundu had previously survived twelve against Keith Thurman, but not Spence.
For both fighters it is clear that this bout represents a significant step up in the welterweight division. For Brook, impossible Golovkin dream aside, this a return to world level. He has only really fought there once when he won the title against Shawn Porter. For Errol Spence Jr, it is a debut on the world stage. Algeri and Bundu are really good fighters, but neither of them are half the physical fighter that Kell Brook is.
There is absolutely nothing not to like about this fight. It is two great welterweights in their prime fighting for a world title. This is how it should be.
As for a pick, I truly believe Errol Spence Jr is an elite level talent. I have believed for a while now that it is only a matter of time before Errol Spence Jr starts finding his name very high on pound for pound lists. It is only because I think really, really highly of Kell Brook that I do believe this fight will be somewhat competitive. Given that I think the American is the more gifted fighter and that I have some concern about Brook’s weight management and physical facial structure, I do have to pick Errol Spence Jr by a comfortable margin. Brook might be too physically big of a welterweight for Spence to stop, but maybe not if either of my concerns prove to be valid. Maybe if Kell Brook can keep the fight relatively close, he can get the judges to hook up a hometown decision. I doubt it though.
Don’t miss this one. The fight will be broadcast live from the UK on Showtime at 5:15 Eastern. Do expect there to be some delays, however, as there often are when US networks try to predict the main event start time of a foreign card. Sometimes they run longer than expected and the US station can do nothing about it except to talk and kill time.
