By Gav Duthie: After dispatching of two mandatories in the last year (Jo Jo Dan, Bizier) that Kell Brook could have beaten on the same night he now has a real live danger in front of him with newly instated mandatory challenger Errol Spence Jnr 20-0 (17).
After failing to secure a fight with Amir Khan, Kell Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn has stated he is negotiating with Miguel Cotto, Danny Garcia, Manny Pacquiao, Adrien Broner, Tim Bradley and Jessie Vargas but a bout against rising star Spence might be the best option. Is this the fight Brook has been looking for or is the risk greater than the reward.
Mandatory
Brook has made 3 defences of his title with two of them coming against IBF mandatory challengers. As such Brook is entitled to at least 1 voluntary defence. I feel it would be unlikely that the governing bodies would allow a unification bout against Jessie Vargas or Danny Garcia but he needs a big name contender. The best fighters I can think of that do not have world titles at the moment are Adrien Broner and Lamont Peterson. Both of those guys are beatable but probably bigger names than Brook so he may need to travel to the US for them.
Hearn factor
Choosing to fight Errol Spence makes things a lot easier for Matchroom supremo Eddie Hearn. He has been unsuccessful in luring Amir Khan and other big names into fighting Brook. Spence wants the fight and as mandatory Hearn doesn’t need to throw a lot of money at him to get him over as the split is usually around 80/20 in the champions favor. Hearn threw money at Charles Martin reportedly between 3-6 million but Joshua is so popular this is an investment. Would he be willing to do the same for Brook?
Risk v reward
I’ll put it out there right now that Brook v Spence wouldn’t be a stadium fight. Casual fans in the UK still won’t know who who Spence is which is no reflection on his ability. Its ironic that the only way Spence gets a shot is by being mandatory because the risk v reward of fighting him isn’t great. Brook was in the exact place when he won his world title, finding it difficult to get a shot at one of the big boys.
Tweets
Spence has intimated that he wants the fight and is happy to travel to the UK to do it. Hearn responded saying he knows the media is hyping Spence but Brook is happy to fight him, especially as he is mandatory. No word has came from Brook from when this article was written.
The future?
I think it is a good fight for whoever wins and a real stepping stone to the big fights in the sport. Its easy to look at Spence and see him as the future of the division and a win against Brook would confirm this. On the other hand if Brook won he could be considered the #1 welterweight without exception.