By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten Errol Spence Jr (21-0, 18 KOs) is fighting IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook overseas in the UK is not something that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya agrees with. De La Hoya says he would never make the same move as the promoters for the 27-year-old Spence from Premier Boxing Champions. De La Hoya thinks there’s too much risk in Spence going overseas to fight the 30-year-old Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) in his hometown at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, UK.
De La Hoya has a lot of respect for the undefeated 2012 U.S Olympian Spence, as he believes he’s going to be a huge star in the future, but he does not like the idea of him taking a risk of fighting in another country and possibly getting robbed in the process.
Spence’s promoters believe in him enough to let him travel to the UK to face Brook. It’s a situation where Spence may need to get a knockout for him to get the ‘W’ in this fight. You hope that the judges will be fair by scoring the fight correctly, but you just can’t know whether the cheering from Brook’s boxing fans will influence the judges. Bramall Lane seats 32,000 boxing fans, and most of those fans that show up to see the fight will be Brook’s fans. Only a small handful will be there to cheer Spence to victory.
“I don’t understand how Errol Spence is flying overseas to fight Kell Brook,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Villianfy Media. “That fight should have happened [in the U.S]. If I was his promoter, I would have fought him here in the States,” said De La Hoya.
Spence is one of those old school warriors who is unafraid to take risks. He believes in himself, and that’s why he was willing to travel to England. You have to believe that Spence’s promoters gave him the option of not taking the fight, but he was willing to take the risk of possibly losing a controversial decision.
Spence and his promoters at Premier Boxing Champions likely didn’t have any other choice but to take the fight in the UK. Brook is the IBF 147lb champion, and his promoters at Matchroom Sport have a lot of money behind them with Sky Sports. It would have been extremely difficult for Spence’s promoters to win a purse bind with the money behind Brook. But it might not matter one bit where the fight takes place, because Spence looks like the real deal. He’s been getting some excellent sparring in with WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo recently, and that’s going to help him a great deal in this fight. Brook is a good fighter, but he’s not as big as Charlo and he doesn’t have the same hand speed. Spence is going to be well-prepared for this fight and he could have an edge over Brook.
“First of all, look, Errol Spence is the best fighter Premier Boxing Champions [has],” said De La Hoya. “He’s the best guy they have, and yet they’re sending him overseas. That doesn’t make sense. I would have built him here and created a superstar with Errol Spence. He’s an amazing star. They can take the fight away from him,” said De La Hoya about the judges overseas.
For PBC to be allowing Spence to travel to the UK and fight Brook in front of his own fans, it tells you a lot about the belief they have in their guy. They must think he’s got the talent to unseat Brook for them to be willing to put him in a risky fight. It’s a gamble on their part, but it’s one that could pay off if Spence is able to use his punching power, body shots, and his boxing skills to beat down Brook.
A victory for Spence will setup a big unification fight against WBA/WBC welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman, who is also promoted by PBC. Making that fight happen in 2018 would create a star in the 147lb division. Ideally, it would be nice to see the guy that comes out the winner of that fight then move on and take on WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao so that all 4 titles could be unified. Unfortunately, it’s not likely to happen, as Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum has been cool to the idea of putting Pacquiao in with the likes of Thurman.
It’s possible that Arum could change his mind if Spence beats Thurman and Brook to win the IBF/WBA/WBC 147 pound titles, but I wouldn’t count on it. At the end of the day, I see Arum electing to keep Pacquiao fighting in his own lane in defending his WBO belt against the guys from the Top Rank stable.
“Something could happen. When you fight overseas, something can always happen,” said De La Hoya about Spence possibly losing by a robbery against Brook in England. I heard, yes, and he’s a perfect example,” said De La Hoya in commenting on American Gabriel Rosado’s controversial 12 round majority decision loss to British fighter Martin Murray last Saturday night in Liverpool, England. “When you have a fighter like Errol Spence, you make sure you look out for his best interest. Like I said, I can’t fight for him, but I can definitely take care of him and promote him the right way. Yeah, I wouldn’t have done that,” said De La Hoya about not letting Spence fight Brook in his home country at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England.
This isn’t the first time that De La Hoya has spoken about him disagreeing with Spence traveling to the UK to fight Brook in his hometown. It’s not a move that De La Hoya would make with his superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez obviously. De La Hoya talks about it not mattering if young fighters lose as long as they give their best while fighting the best
It’s interesting to hear De La Hoya sound so protective of Spence. It makes me wonder whether De La Hoya would like to promote the unbeaten Spence in the future when his contract runs out with his promoters. But it’s interesting that he’s not too keen on wanting to have Spence take risks by traveling to the UK. If De La Hoya truly believes that it doesn’t matter whether a fighter loses or not, as long as he fights hard, then he should be open to guys like Saul Canelo Alvarez fighting Gennady Golovkin and with Spence traveling to fight Brook in England.
