Errol Spence: Kell Brook is a shell of himself now

By Boxing News - 11/14/2020 - Comments

By Matt Lieberman: Errol Spence Jr says Kell Brook is just a fighter shell that he once was and sees Terence Crawford beating him easily tonight when the two fight on ESPN. What Spence should be asking is, ‘will Brook quit tonight as he did twice before when facing quality opposition?’

Kell talks a tough game, but he clearly quit against Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. As the saying goes, ‘once a quitter, always a quitter.’

Brook can win tonight if he turns it into a war of attrition and lands enough shots to wear Crawford down. To do that, Brook will likely need to chase Crawford around the ring to a certain extent because he’s not going to stand and fight.

Brook is too big, too powerful, and too dangerous for Crawford to fight him the way he’s been doing against the lesser opposition Top Rank has been continually matching him against during his 12-year pro career.

Spence doesn’t say why he believes that Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) is just a shell of his former self. After all, Brook is 3-0 since his loss to him in 2017, and there’s no clear sign that he’s a “shell” of his former self based on his results.

What you can say is Brook has looked slower in terms of hand speed in his last couple of fights compared to the guy that valiantly fought Gennadiy Golovkin and Spence in 2016 and 2017. (*Note: Brook’s power appears just as good now as it was then).

Image: Errol Spence: Kell Brook is a shell of himself now

Brook looked drained at the weigh-in

The former IBF welterweight champion Brook, 34, made weight at 147 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in without any hiccups, but his face looked weathered from the ordeal. He was clearly drained in the making at 147. Brook has aged some since his fights with GGG and Spence, and he’s not as youthful-looking now.

We’re doing to find out tonight if Brook’s strength has been affected by his ordeal of getting down to the welterweight limit [147], which he hadn’t fought since 2017.

It’s interesting to note that WBO welterweight titleholder Crawford was hurt by Egidijus Kavaliauskas in his last fight in December. Crawford admits that he purposefully chose to slug with Kavaliauskas.

I guess Crawford didn’t want to make it ugly and run around the ring, as he would have likely been booed by the New York fans at Madison Square Garden.

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Spence says Brook just a “shell of his former self”

“Kell is a shell of himself now, but he can still fight, but I think Terence will beat him easy,” said Spence to AKHi TV. ”

Well, Crawford hasn’t been beating anyone quickly as of late, so it might not be “easy” for him to defeat Brook tonight. Jose Benavidez lasted until the 12th against Crawford, Jeff Horn, and Kavaliauskas made it to the ninth.

Amir Khan lasted six rounds and perhaps would have gone two or three additional rounds if his trainer hadn’t pulled him out after Crawford fouled him with a low blow in the sixth.

If we’re to assume that Brook will make it to at least the ninth round, he’s going to get his pound of flesh during the fight. Brook won’t be an easy out for Crawford if he intends to go to war.

It wouldn’t be advisable for Crawford to box Brook the way he did against Felix Diaz and Viktor Postol, as he’ll hurt his popularity if he stays on the outside, playing it safe.

“I’m coming to steal the show and become a two-time world champion,” said Brook to The Pug and Copp Boxing Show. “I’m not coming in there to make up the numbers.

“And I’m coming there to become a world champion, and that’s a dangerous man. I’m coming in there to shock the world. I believe I’m a better version of that guy.

“And I used to balloon up in weight, and not have enough calories [when losing weight to get to the 147-lb limit]. I don’t balloon up like I used to do. I’ve been at a nice weight for a long time.

“I haven’t had to take a lot of weight off. I’ve been able to perform 1000 times better in the gym and get more out of myself. And I’ve been in with the best in the world in Golovkin at middleweight and Errol Spence, who was supposed to be the man in the welterweight division.

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“I’ve got the experience, and I know what it takes to be a champion. I know I’m the underdog. I’ve got nothing to lose. He’s coming in there with a real fighter with the heart of a lion.

“Don’t get that I’m 34-years-old and he’s no spring chicken himself. He’s only a year younger than me, and he’s not fought anybody like me that believes he’s going to win.

“He started at lightweight, and he knows he’s got a real fight, and you should know this too. You’re looking at the man that is going to be #1 in the world,” said Kell on his prediction of a victory over Crawford.

Terence has the speed advantage, and he’s going to try and use it to dominate the slower Brook tonight. For Brook to have a chance of winning, he’ll need to walk through a lot of Crawford’s punches to land his own.

If Brook backs off when hit as he did against Gennadiy Golovkin, Errol Spence Jr, and Michael Zerafa, Crawford will take him out with a flurry of punches.

In other words, it’s not a good idea for Brook to back up against the ropes tonight the way he did in his fights against those three guys.

Brook: People are writing me off

“You’re probably right. You can’t put a price tag on your health,” Brook said when asked about whether he shouldn’t have fought middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin in 2016.

“When your health starts getting affected, you don’t want to be in the sport. Me and my team made this fight against arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

“Being given the opportunity to try and become a two-time world champion and put myself down in history, that’s what it’s all about. Every fighter dreams about becoming a world champion.

“I’m up against it. A lot of people are writing me off. I’m here to make history. There’s a lot of haters and doubters out there that want to prove I’m wrong.

“I know I can beat this guy. And I know he’s one hell of a fighter, but I am too. I can switch hit, I’ve got great balance, great jab, vicious power.

“And I don’t give it a second thought,” Brook said about his eye injuries. “You can see the medal in my eyes; the bone has grown over the top of it. What you’re looking at now is ‘The Terminator.’

Image: Errol Spence: Kell Brook is a shell of himself now

“I’m indestructible now, and I feel very confident in my face to take these shots. The determination that I’ve got to go in there and prove all these doubters wrong is so high,” Brook said about wanting to show his critics that they were wrong.

Fans are writing Brook off for a good reason. He stopped fighting world-class opposition from 2017 to 2020, and he looked poor in his fights.

Brook’s eye injuries against Golovkin and Spence have further diminished the belief that boxing fans have in him. Many of them think Brook is too fragile to handle the punishment one must take to compete at the highest boxing levels.

Crawford might be too fragile too, but that’s something we’re going to learn tonight. This is arguably Crawford’s first real fight at 147 against a world-level fighter. The guys that Top Rank has been matched Crawford up against at 147 – Khan, Horn, Benavidez, and Kavaliauskas – are non-top 15 level fighters.

Technically, they’re contenders at welterweight, but if you put all the welterweights in one column instead of split between four alphabet governing bodies, the fighters Crawford has fought at 147 aren’t first-tier-level contenders.

Bravo to Top Rank for matching Crawford skillfully, but boo on them for choosing to take that path. Tonight, we’ll see if Crawford can take a shot from a world-class welterweight, and hopefully, he doesn’t run and spoil his way to an ugly 12-round victory.

Kell is a man possessed

“I just think this is my time,” Kell said. “He’s [Crawford] not boxed anybody at my level. He’s boxed guys that were lesser than me. I’m a huge welterweight with criminal power.

Image: Errol Spence: Kell Brook is a shell of himself now

“And I’m a man possessed in this fight. I’m ready to do what I need to do to get that win. I’m ready to walk through fire to become two-time, and I’m going to leave it all in that ring on the 14th.

“If he can beat me, he is the man that you claim he is. Trust me; I’m coming hard for this fight. Everyone has their own opinion. Look at how many people got it wrong with Teofimo Lopez and Lomachenko.

“Nobody thought he was going to do it. I told the world that he was going to beat him. Look, everyone is shocked. Everyone was shocked with Wilder and Fury when he dealt with him.

“This is boxing. It’s not like it’s going to be a massive upset. It’s not like, ‘I can’t believe he’s beaten, Terence.’ Don’t be shocked. I know what happened in the Errol Spence fight.

“Really and truly, I shouldn’t have gotten in the ring, but no excuses. This is a different animal that is going into the ring with Terence Crawford. It’s a different animal. If he can beat me, he will have earned it.

“You just watch on the 14th,” said Brook on his belief he’ll pull off the upset against Terence.

Brook quit against Spence and Golovkin, and he may do the same thing if he starts getting busted up tonight. I’m predicting right now.

If Brook quits tonight rather than going out on his shield, his career will be over for all intents and purposes. Brook will have quit for the third time, and that’ll be a finish for him. If Brook is injured, he needs to let his trainer or the ringside doctor pull him out there than him taking a knee as he did against Spence.

Brook: Wait until I hit Crawford

“I’ve watched one of his fights, and it was at Madison Square Garden,” Brook said about having attended only one of Crawford’s fights during his career. “It was a weird one because he got caught.

“Everyone knows he’s very delicate around the whiskers, Amir Khan. He got put down in the first round, and he went into his shell. I didn’t take that much from the fight.

Image: Errol Spence: Kell Brook is a shell of himself now

“He’s unorthodox, and he came out, landed a shot, and ended up putting Amir Khan down, but it’s a different fight. Amir Khan and all these guys aren’t me. This is a completely different fight.

“I’m not going to say he’s diminishing,” said Brook when asked about whether Crawford is starting to show signs of determination after being dropped by his last opponent Egidijus Kavaliauskas.

“Everyone said he’s the pound-for-pound best fighter in boxing. “We’ve seen him hurt several times, and we’ve seen him have a little wiggle on his legs, his little skinny legs down there.

“So wait until I hit him,” Brook said about his belief that he can hurt Crawford once he makes contact with his powerful shots.

Brook can hurt Crawford and stop him, but he’s going to need to walk through fire for him to land his shots. Kell’s arms are too short, and his hand speed is too slow for him to be able to match Crawford punch for punch tonight.

It would help if Brook targeted Crawford’s body to a certain extent because he’s going t be dodging his headshots all night, and it could prove to be difficult to try and land to that area.

Brook believes he’ll hurt Crawford

“Me and Eddie [Hearn] can work together in the future. This is boxing,” Brook said about his former promoter Hearn. “Everyone knows we go way back, and we’ll be involved again.

Image: Errol Spence: Kell Brook is a shell of himself now

“I need to go out there, make this fight, and become a two-time world champion. Eddie Hearn is fine, we’re fine Eddie and me, and we’re going to work together in the future.

“I can see a knockout,” Kell said when asked how he would win against Crawford. “I’m not looking for a knockout, but I think I can hurt him, and I’m going to stop him.

“I’ve been playing over and over in my mind that I know I’m going to hurt him at some point in the fight, and I’m a great finisher. I’m going to jump on him. But also at the same time, I’m ready for 15 rounds.

“If it comes to where I’ve smoked his boots up, I’ll take care of him there,” said Brook on his fight with Terence.

If Brook lands some of the same types of shots on Crawford that he did in his last fight against Mark DeLuca last February, he’ll do damage. Crawford is no different than anyone Brook has fought before as far his ability to take a heavy shot.

Crawford can be hurt just like anyone, which is why he moves around a lot and doesn’t stay in the pocket.

You can argue that Terence’s limited punch resistance has been heavily masked by the types of opposition that his promoters at Top Rank have been putting him in with.

Crawford hasn’t been fighting elite-level 135, 140, and 147-pounders consistently during his career. At 135, the only good guy that Crawford fought was Yuriorkis Gamboa, and he hurt him.

When Crawford fought a 140, his best opponent was Viktor Postol, who isn’t a big puncher and has since lost to Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor. Since Crawford moved up to 147 in 2018, he’s yet to fight anyone of note. He’s four times in the welterweight division, beating these guys:

  • Jeff Horn
  • Jose Benavidez Jr
  • Amir Khan
  • Egidijus Kavaliauskas

Those are bottom-level welterweights and nowhere near the level of the top fighters. Crawford gets credit for beating them and looking good, but you can’t ignore the fact that he’s still unproven at 147. Crawford could fall apart tonight if Brook makes it a war of attrition.