By Scott Gilfoid: Kell Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn says that he’ll be facing Errol Spence Jr. on May 27 at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England. Hearn is waiting for the licensing for the fight. The fight is definitely going to happen, says Hearn. There have been rumors that the Brook-Spence fight won’t be taking place. Hearn says the rumors are nonsense, as the fight has been agreed to and they’re on board with taking it in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield at the 28,000 seat stadium Bramall Lane.
Hearn didn’t say how much longer it’ll take for the license to come through for the fight. We are in mid-March now, and only 2 months away from the actual fight date of May 27. Hopefully, Hearn doesn’t strikeout with his attempts at finding a venue for the Brook vs. Spence fight.
This will be Brooks’ first fight since his 5th round TKO loss to IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin last September. Brook hurt his right eye in the fight, and he pretty much stopped throwing punches in the 5th and had to be bailed out by his trainer Dominic Ingle. The eye injury required surgery to repair a busted right eye socket for Brook. He says he’s 100 percent now. I guess we’ll find out on May 27 if Brook’s eye is healthy enough to take the sledgehammer blows from Spence. If the eye can’t handle getting hit, we could see another early exit for Brook. I hope it’s not another white towel being thrown into the ring like last time Brook fought. Some boxing fans would have preferred if Brook had gone out on his shield rather than having a towel thrown into the ring by his trainer.
“There’s a conspiracy theory that the fight is going to be moved or it’s off,” said Hearn to IFL TV about the rumors circulating around that the Brook-Spence fight is off. “Both guys have signed agreements with the IBF. So if Kell Brook doesn’t fight, he’s stripped [of his IBF title] immediately. If Errol Spence [pulls out], he’s replaced as the mandatory challenger. We’re looking at May 27 at Bramall Lane. We’re just waiting for the license to come through with the council. This fight is 100 percent happening. May 27 at Bramall Lane, that’s our date. Once we get the license approved, then we’ll get the venue. We’re committed to the fight. We’re full steam ahead for the Errol Spence fight,” said Hearn.
It’s not surprising that there have been rumors that the Brook-Spence fight isn’t happening. From the very start, Hearn has appeared less than eager for Brook to face Spence. We’ve seen Hearn blabbering about how Brook should move up to 154, and how it’s so hard for him to make 147. I mean, Hearn has come across like he’s not excited about Brook continuing to fight at 147. I don’t know why Hearn thinks Brook would do better at 154. That’s the strange part. You throw Brook in the ring with the top 154 lb. fighters like Erislandy Lara, Jermell Charlo and Demerius Andrade, and I see it ending badly for him. Never the less, Hearn talked a lot about how he wanted Brook to move to 154, so it’s not surprising that some boxing fans might think that he would dodge the Spence fight
“All the contracts are agreed and have been sent to the IBF,“ Hearn said to Sportsmail. “This is now the only fight we are looking at for Kell and it’s a big one. We are speaking with Sheffield Council about a license for Bramall Lane on May 27 for a capacity of 28,000. We need to go over the policing, safety and other requirements. All being well we will be able to confirm the fight by the end of this week or the start of next week.”
Hearn and Brook are REALLY excited about staging the fight at Bramall Lane in Sheffield. I think they believe that the big crowd will help change the outcome of the fight. I don’t think it will. There was a big crowd that attended Brook’s last fight against Golovkin, and we saw how that one turned out.
The fact of the matter is that it doesn’t how big the crowd is. If you don’t possess the talent to win, then you might as well be fighting in front of a tiny crowd. Unfortunately, Brook is facing the fighter that is considered the future superstar of the welterweight division in 26-year-old Errol Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs) on May 27.
If this was another one of Brook’s easy mark opponents like Jo Jo Dan, Frankie Gavin or Kevin Bizier, then I would have no worries for him. Brook would win the fight just based on showing up. But this is Spence, the guy that is considered the future superstar of the 147 and eventually the 154 lb. divisions.
Spence is looking like an unstoppable force right now, and Brook is standing in his way. Besides all the problems that Brook will have in trying to deal with a fighter of Spence’s talent on May 27, he’s got other problems in terms of having to make weight for the fight. Brook is at the point in his career where it’s now very difficult for him to make the 147 lb. limit. Further, Brook is coming off of a bad eye injury from a beat down against Golovkin.
The cards are stacked against Brook in the Spence fight. The only thing Brook has going for him is the fact that the fight will take place in his venue at Bramall Lane. That would help Brook if he weren’t facing a talented knockout artist with the kind of punching power and determination that Spence has going for him.
Spence is going to be looking to take the judges out of the fight. Moreover, Spence is well aware of Brook’s spoiling tricks of using excessive holding to try and stall out the fight like he did against Shawn Porter. Spence says he’s ready for Brook if he tries to hold all night long. Spence didn’t say what he’ll do to keep Brook from grabbing him over and over again, but he says he’s got something in store for him if he tries that tactic.