Errol Spence will break Brook down says Thurman

By Boxing News - 02/15/2017 - Comments

Image: Errol Spence will break Brook down says Thurman

By Scott Gilfoid: Keith Thurman sees the match between IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook and challenger Errol Spence as a potentially close one, but he mostly sees the fight as a potential knockout for the unbeaten U.S fighter Spence. Thurman believes that Spence is going to be looking to knockout Brook in their fight on May 27 due to the fight taking place in the UK.

Thurman sees Spence being committed to looking for the knockout in this fight, because he’s going to be the visiting fighter. Thurman thinks that Brook’s recently busted right eye socket won’t be a problem for him in this fight, but that he’ll possibly get broken down just the same.

Thurman says that Spence had problems with the awkward style of his last opponent Leonard Bundu, who he stopped in the 6th round last August in Coney Island, New York. Spence appeared to dominate Bundu before knocking him down twice in round 6. The referee failed to give Spence credit for the first knockdown, but it didn’t matter. Spence immediately knocked Bundu out once he got back to his feet.

Thurman said this to Fighthype.com about the Brook vs. Spence fight:

“I do consider Kell Brook a hard fight,” said Thurman. “It’s not that Errol’s not up to the challenge and he’s not capable of overcoming the challenge. But against [Leonardo] Bundu, even though he had a tremendous knockout victory, before the knockout, Bundu was awkward for him. Bundu can really box. Bundu has true experience. Luckily, Errol always fights his fight. He stays well composed and that’s what both fighters were doing. He was patient. He was able to punch him and hurt him just like I did and finish him, which I did not do. I did not go for that route. Prior to that fight, I said if Errol hurts him like I hurt him, then Errol will finish him because that’s the way they train. I like the way that the kid fights. But Kell Brook is not a small guy. He’s at least 5’10”. He’s got good height. He’s got good reach. Errol has got good height and good reach too. But I think Kell Brook is still a little bit bigger. He’s got good boxing ability, and a good 1-2. I think that’s Kell Brook’s strength point is the way he throws his 1-2. He has decent speed, but he’s well composed. Kell Brook is a good fighter, but only beating Shawn Porter, but there’s still controversy,” said Thurman.

There was definitely controversy in Brook’s win over Shawn Porter in 2014. Brook appeared to lose the fight to Porter in the eyes of many boxing fans. Brook also got away with nonstop clinching for 12 rounds. It’s unclear why the referee failed to address the clinching. Referees are supposed to be inside the ring to control the fouling, as well as to take care of fighters after they’re knocked out or when they’re injured.

Brook was able to do a lot of holding in the Porter fight. The holding changed the entire complexion of the fight. Brook will need to come up with a different game plan for the Spence fight, because he’s someone that fights at medium range. He’s not going to try and fight Brook on the inside. If Brook is going to dive in and look to clinch Spence repeatedly for 12 rounds, then we’re going to probably see a lot of wrestling. If there’s a good referee working the fight, then we could see Brook penalized and disqualified if he won’t stop grabbing. We’ll how to see how it goes.

Speaking about Brook’s decision to fight middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, Thurman said, “I didn’t think it was a great move to fight Triple G for Kell Brook. It’s a double weight jump. You have yet to fight Keith Thurman. That was a mistake. Hopefully the injury isn’t subjected to easy fractures. Normally bones heal stronger, so I think he’ll be OK. That’s a good fight for the fans. It’s a tremendous title defense, and this is what Errol has been asking for. So you can see him perform. I’m pretty sure he’s going to perform again. Now he’s finally performing against a high caliber fighter. It’s going to be interesting to see the outcome. I do rate it as a potentially close fight,” said Thurman.

A lot of boxing fans don’t like the timing for the Brook-Spence fight. It’s coming at a bad time for Brook, as he’s coming off of an eye injury in his 5th round knockout loss to middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin on September 10 last year. Brook did little more than running around the ring for five rounds until his corner threw in the towel. Brook did not want to stand and fight Golovkin. There’s a good possibility that Brook won’t want to stand and fight Spence either once he tastes what his power is like.

Brook will need to fight Spence though. It doesn’t matter that the fight is taking place in the UK in front of Brook’s own boxing fans. If all Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) can do is run and hold, he’s going to get knocked out by Spence. Brook has to earn the respect of the 26-year-old Spence (21-0, 18 KOs), and the only way he can do that is by fighting him and not looking to spoil for 12 rounds. Brook won’t be able to beat a pressure fighter like Spence by holding and running. Spence is too good at cutting off the ring for him to be beaten with the spoiling tactics of Brook. I’m just saying.

“I think Errol may have the ability to hurt Kell Brook more than Kell Brook has the ability to hurt Errol,” said Thurman. “I’m pretty sure Spence is going to go for the knockout because he’s going overseas. I think he’s going to do what he’s always done, which is to fight at a certain tempo and try to break him down. The thing is, is Kell Brook going to allow himself to get broken down? Triple G broke him down. Triple G is a bigger guy. It was a simple task. It didn’t take Triple G long to break him down. I think it’s going to take more rounds for Spence to break him down. I think he can break him down possibly if things are going his way in the 7th, 8th or 9th round,” said Thurman.

I think there’s a good possibility that Spence will break Brook down faster than Golovkin did. The reason for that is because he and his trainer will watch the Golovkin-Brook fight over and over, and will note how Golovkin was able to hurt Brook in round 5 once he went after his body. Spence will then focus his energy on throwing body punches in the early rounds of the fight on May 27 instead of just head-hunting the entire time the way that Golovkin was doing in rounds 1 through 4.

Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez wanted him to throw body shots against Brook, but he wouldn’t do it until the 5th. I think Golovkin wanted a highlight reel knockout, and the only way you get those type of stoppage wins is when you throw to the head. Spence isn’t that type of fighter. He likes to score body shot knockouts, and he’s a lot more practical than GGG. Spence will be looking to KO Brook with a body shot first and foremost, and it’s going to be up to Brook to show that he can take those shots. I don’t know if he can, which is why I see Brook getting broken down faster than he was in his 5th round knockout loss to Golovkin last year.

“From my observation, the way that Errol fights, he’s a tree chopper,” said Thurman. “He chops at you, he chops at you, and he chops at you, and lets you fall down. He’s going to break you down and go for the punches. The way he broke Algieri down. Algieri stayed on the ropes. I don’t think he’s someone you want to stay on the ropes against. When he throws his punches, he’s committed to his punches. I wonder what happens when someone is just as strong and committed to his punches. He’s [Algieri] a smaller guy. I favored Spence in that fight. I didn’t give Algieri any chance in that fight. Algieri did OK against [Amir] Khan, but Khan is a 140 pounder too. There’s a difference fighting Errol Spence. Looking at these two fighters [Brook and Spence], these are legitimate welterweights. It’s a good fight. I am not surprised he [Brook] took it. He fought Shawn Porter and he fought Triple G. He’s a yes man. He proved he has an ‘O’ and is not afraid to let it go. If he can beat me, beat me. He’s got a true heart of a true warrior, who wants greatness for himself and is willing to challenge himself against the best fighters in the world,” said Thurman.

Spence will definitely be chopping away at Brook with body shots looking to chop him down like a tree. Brook is a sturdier fighter than Chris Algieri in my view, but not by much.

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