Errol Spence: I’m ready to face Kell Brook in England!

By Boxing News - 12/03/2015 - Comments

Image: Errol Spence: I'm ready to face Kell Brook in England!(Photo credit: Suzanne Teresa/Premier Boxing Champions) By Scott Gilfoid: Undefeated KO artist Errol Spence Jr. (19-0, 16 KOs) took a big step towards an eventual title shot against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook last Saturday night in halting the talented but little know #13 IBF Alejandro Barrera (28-3, 18 KOs) in the 5th round at The Bomb Factory, in Dallas, Texas, USA. The Spence Jr. vs. Barrera fight was an IBF 147lb eliminator fight, but not a final eliminator.

Spence Jr. has one more eliminator to go before he’ll be in position to fight Brook for his IBF 147lb title. Spence says he’s willing to go to the UK to fight Brook in front of his British fans.

Spence doesn’t care if he’ll be fighting in front of a hostile crowd, because he plans on taking the crowd, the judges and the referee out of the equation by knocking Brook out. The only thing that Spence will need to deal with if he wants to get the victory is Brook’s habit of clinching repetitively.

If you watch the replay of Brook’s win over Shawn Porter, you’ll notice that Brook used nonstop clinching to keep Porter from throwing punches on the inside. The referee let the clinching go on all fight long without docking points from Brook the way he should have done under the circumstances.

“There were definitely some nerves fighting in front of my hometown fans. It took me the first couple of rounds to get over that,” Spence said about his win over Barrera via ESPN.com. “Then I just started doing what I usually do and it worked out. I want top 10 welterweights. My goal is to become a world champion. If I have to go to England to fight Kell Brook, I’m willing to do that.”

I think it’s pretty much academic that Spence will need to travel to the UK to fight Brook, because he sure as heck isn’t likely to accommodate Spence by fighting in his home state of Texas, or in Las Vegas, Nevada. Spence will need to fight Brook in front of his own fans, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the fight takes place in either London or in Sheffield.

As for who Spence will likely need to beat in the final IBF eliminator, I think it’ll be someone like Fredick Lawson. It won’t be Diego Chaves because he’s still possibly going to be facing Brook next year. It won’t be Kevin Bizier because he’s going to be given a title shot straightway despite him not having beaten anyone.

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We’re probably looking at Spence not getting a shot at Brook’s IBF title until 2017. I think Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn will drag it out as long as possible before he lets Brook fight Spence. I see Brook likely fighting Chaves, Bizier and Paulie Malignaggi in 2016.

In 2017, Spence will be in position to get the fight against Brook if he doesn’t vacate his IBF title. Unfortunately, I can see Brook doing just that because it’s too dangerous of a fight for him, and I think Hearn will opt to have him vacate the IBF title in order to position him against a beatable fighter. It’s kind of sad but I definitely see Brook vacating his IBF 147lb title rather than facing the southpaw Spence and getting knocked out. The trick that Brook use to beat Porter, using clinching nonstop, won’t work against Spence because he fights through clinches. He doesn’t just give up the way Porter did each time Brook grabbed him in a clinch. The worst thing a fighter can do is just give up and wait for the referee to break him apart when he’s being clinched 24/7 the way that Brook was doing against Porter. Spence wouldn’t do that. He’s a great inside fighter, and he would physically work a hand free and nail Brook right shots to the head and body until he either took his mitts off of him or until the referee did his job by breaking up the clinch and giving Brook a warning for excessive holding. But if Brook vacates his IBF title the way I think he will, then it will clear the way for Spence to take the IBF strap and defend it against all comers.

Spence wants to WBA “regular” welterweight champion Keith Thurman, but he’s had no luck in getting him to agree to the fight. Thurman is too busy fighting guys like Luis Collazo and Robert Guerrero to want to risk his neck fighting Spence.



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