Brook vs. Spence: Can this fight go the distance?

By Yannis Mihanos: Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) defends his IBF welterweight title tonight against unbeaten American Errol Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs) at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England. Last September, Brook was pummeled by a much stronger opponent in middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in losing by a 5th round knockout on September 10 at the O2 Arena in London, England. Many boxing fans were surprised by Brooks decision to fight Golovkin. It was a completely unsuspected one.

But that’s what boxers do at times finding whoever is available for their biggest challenge. This strategy doesn’t work always well and in the case of Brook it surely didn’t.

Eight months later and now Brook takes a new tough challenge in fighting one of the most promising new American boxers: Errol Spence Jr. Some call Brook crazy for going back to back to another difficult fight. Spence is unbeaten with high rate of knockouts; he is quite a powerhouse. For Spence this is the right step up fight. Fighting an established welterweight champion on his home soil is the perfect opportunity to show to the world that he is the real deal.

Brook has also much to gain, fighting in front of his home town and fans is also the perfect opportunity to make a statement to those that write him off.

I wouldn’t write off Brook so easy either, already by taking this fight, shows to me that he takes his boxing seriously.

I believe that this fight can go either way, Brook is a true champion and Spence hasn’t been tested yet in tough fights. I say this because Brook has more experience in difficult fights, let’s not forget how he beat Porter, another promising American welterweight.

I expect the fight to be much closer than so many predict. Spence has the firepower to finish the fight in the early rounds but Brook has the chin and the guts to take it all the way.

This fight is clearly not for the light at heart. In the Sheffield arena two hungry lions Brook vs Spence will give everything they’ve got, making sure that this a high level contest that can satisfy any demanding boxing fan.