Brook: Spence can’t stand up to my power

Boxingnews24.com

By Scott Gilfoid: IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) has lost an enormous amount of weight to get near the 147 pound fighting weight for his May 27 fight against Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs) for their fight at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England. Despite taking off a ton of weight, Brook still has 6 stubborn pounds to get down to the limit.

Brook thinks he’ll be able to take the weight off to make the welterweight limit, and then defend his title successfully in style. Brook says the key to him winning the fight will be his punching power. Brook doesn’t think Spence, 27, will be able to handle his big power shots. Brook isn’t known for being a big puncher. He seems to believe he’s a big knockout artist now.

Brook is predicting a hard fight on May 27, but he believes he’ll be the one that triumphs. Brook is so confident that he’ll win the fight against Spence that he’s already targeting a unification fight against WBA/WBC welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman, who he says is one of his favorite fighters in the sport.

“I feel great. I’ve been sparring in the hot sun with middleweights and super middleweights,” said Brook to IFL TV. “I’ll be ready for this fight. I’ve been sparring 3 unbeaten men, strong super middleweights. I’ve been running around the track. I’m got all the killers in the gym. They’ve been on me every single day. I’ve come down to welterweight. It’s been tough. With 2 weeks to go, as you can see, I’m firmed up. I’m ready to fight. I’m a fighting machine. I’m in the fight zone like a snake, ready to go. I still have a few pounds to lose,” said Brook.

One of Brook’s sparring partners is said to be unbeaten super middleweight Jamie Cox. It’s unclear why Brook is sparring with super middleweights rather than welterweights and/or junior middleweights. Spence doesn’t rehydrate into the 180s like super middleweights tend to do. If anything, Spence rehydrates to the low 170s if that. It sounds like the 30-year-old Brook is going a bit overboard in electing to spar with super middleweights rather than guys the same size as Spence.

Brook is going in the wrong direction in sparring with fighters as heavy as Cox. I don’t understand it, but it kind of shows you the mindset that Brook has for getting ready for Spence. The paranoia is so bad that Brook is sparring with guys 3 divisions above the weight class Spence fights in. I can’t say it’s the smartest thing

Brook could be doing right now, because all he’s doing is getting worn down by sparring against guys much bigger than himself and bigger than Spence. That’s dumb, dumb and dumb. I don’t know who’s in charge of the show in Brook’s training camp, but whoever it is, they’re blowing it. If it’s Dominic Ingle, then I think Brook needs to swap him out for another trainer that can have him sparring with guys that can actually prepare him for the fighter that he’s going to be facing on May 27 in Spence.

“As you can see, I feel brand new,” said Brook. “I feel really good at this weight. We’ve been bringing the weight down. We’re on target. You can see me moving around the gym. I’m fast on my feet. You see the punching power. I’m ready to go. I can’t wait. I can’t wait to defend my world title. Bramall Lane let me go. I’ve got Spence on my mind. I was built for this. I’m looking forward to defending at Bramall Lane. I can’t wait. I can’t wait to defend the world title in front of all those fans and all the fans all over the world,” said Brook.

Oh boy, I think Brook is going a big overboard now in him idealizing what’s about to happen between him and Spence on the night. Brook needs to get his feet back on the ground and start picturing a more realistic scenario of what’s going to be happening when he get inside the ring with Spence at Bramall Lane in Sheffield.

If Brook could see the fight for what it likely will be, he might have a chance if he can come up with the prefect spoiling defensive tactic like the one that he came up with for his “win” over Shawn Porter in 2014. In that fight, Brook obviously realized he had no chance against the superior firepower of Porter. So instead of actually trying to fight him, Brook chose to clinch repeatedly over and over again for 12 rounds.

Brook never gave Porter a chance in that fight to get his offense un-tracked. With the referee just standing and watching, Brook nosedived forward like a missile in clinch after clinch to keep Porter from getting his shot off. It was the perfect strategy to keep Brook from losing the fight. Yeah, it wasn’t exactly fair and definitely not sporting, but it worked for Brook and the referee let him do it.

If the referee is going to let Brook spoil like that, then he can neutralize the offensive weapons of arguably superior fighters like Spence and Porter. Obviously, Brook can’t go back to the nonstop clinching that he used against Porter, because Spence has been training for 8 weeks in how to defeat that tactic. It would be idiotic for Brook to go back to that same tactic against Spence, because he’ll know how to defeat it by getting an arm free while being clinched and nail Brook with something he can’t handle.

If Brook is going to beat Spence, he’s going to need to come up with the perfect spoiling tactic that he would never expect. It’s got to be something that the referee will turn a blind eye to and let it go on for 12 rounds without his doing his job to stop it. I think it would be a bad idea for Brook to brain Spence with rabbit shots for 12 rounds, daring he referee to do something.

Likewise, I think it would be idea as well if Brook immediately started hitting Spence with low blows and continued that strategy for 12 long, painful rounds. It would look real bad to the boxing fans at Bramall Lane. Spence might get tired of getting hit low and respond with his own low blows. If the referee is just going to let both fighters tee off with low blows, it would make him look REALLY bad. As such, Brook has got to come up with a spoiling tactic that Spence least expects.

”It’s the best fighting the best,” said Brook in talking about Spence. ”Nobody wants to fight Errol Spence. He’s supposed to be this massive big guy. He’s fighting an unbeaten fighter from England, me, who has never lost at welterweight that is mentally strong. I’m ready to fight. This is going to be the best welterweight fight. I’m looking forward to having a tough fight. This is going to be one of the toughest fights I’ve ever had. I’m going to get over this. I’ve been watching Keith Thurman. He’s one of my favorite fighters to be honest with you. I’m looking forward to locking on him at the end of the year. I’d love that fight,” said Brook.

It’s interesting that Brook is looking past Spence and already thinking about a fight against Keith Thurman. I think Brook has got delusions of grandeur. Brook is the underdog for this fight against Spence, and yet here he is thinking he’s going to win and move on to fight Thurman later this year. I don’t know if Brook has been following boxing, but if he has, he’d know that Thurman has 2 popular fighters that he’s considering for rematches in Porter and Danny Garcia.

Thurman can take his pick which one he wants. Thurman is kind of licking his wounds from his last grueling fight against Danny Garcia. Thurman wants to take his time before he gets back inside the ring to fight Garcia or Porter again. As far as Brook goes, he’s going to have to wait until 2018 at the minimum before he can fight Thurman. That fight will only happen if Brook beats Spence, which I don’t think he will.

“A lot more passionate fans are going to be there at Bramall Lane on May 27,” said Brook. “I’ve got to finish up the sparring. I’ve got one more week to get the weight down, make the weight, and defend the title in style. What I got with him is a lot of confidence. I know he’s very talented. I know he’s been doing what he’s supposed to be doing against those opponents, but I’m a world champion and he’s coming to my backyard and I’m ready. That’s all I can say. If he is something unbelievable, then he’s going to have to be unbelievable to beat me. If he is, then he’s earned it. I’ll get some hard work in on May 27th. I don’t think he can stand up to my power, my thinking and my determination at Bramall Lane. I’ve got Errol Spence on my mind. He’s fighting a big welterweight, me,” said Brook.

I honestly don’t think Spence has to be the best welterweight in the world to beat the likes of Brook. I think No.3 or No.4 welterweight could beat the likes of Brook right now, especially with him having to lose so much weight after eating his way to the 180s. Brook is going to be weakened by the time he gets back down to 147 and then rehydrates. There’s also the question mark about whether Brook’s surgically repaired right eye will hold up under the strain of getting nailed all night long with monstrous power shots from Spence. He’s not exactly a light puncher.

If that titanium plate that has been inserted into Brook’s right eye socket to repair he fractured socket doesn’t hold up on May 27, then it could be an early night.
“My prediction is now that I know Kell has done the weight good and done it well, I believe Kell will win,” said Ryan Rhodes to IFL TV in predicting a Brook win over Spence. “My only concern is how well Kell can do the weight. He’s only 6 pounds above the weight, which is amazing,” said Rhodes.

I disagree with Rhodes about him believing that Brook is making the weight good. I don’t think he is. I’ve never seen Brook so thin and stringy looking. He looks like he’s been training on a track field to become a sprinter rather than a fighter. If the idea is for Brook to run from Spence for 12 rounds, then I can understand him looking the way he’s looking right now. But I don’t think Brook looks like he’s in fighting shape for this fight.

“My prediction is Alvarez on points,” said Rhodes in predicting a Canelo win over Golovkin. “People might say that the only reason I’m predicting Alvarez to win is because I fought Alvarez. Not at all. I’m saying it because I believe it. Alvarez has everything he needs to beat someone like Golovkin. We know what you’re going to get with Golovkin. But with Alvarez, he can box. He can fight. He can punch. He can fight on the inside. He can fight on the outside, moving around. That’s the great thing about Alvarez. So my prediction is Alvarez on points, and Kell Brook winning against Spence, now that I know he’s done his weight good,” said Rhodes.