Spence predicts KO win over Brook

Boxingnews24.com

By Scott Gilfoid: Errol Spence Jr. expects to knockout Kell Brook on Saturday night, and win over the huge crowd of British boxing fans at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England. Spence says that if Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) does go the full 12 round distance with him, he’ll be put through the ringer in a grueling battle with lots of punishment absorbed by him.

Spence (21-0, 18 KOs) is not going to be turned back in his quest for the IBF welterweight title that the 31-year-old Brook has in his possession. There will be a lot of boxing fans inside Bramall Lane on the night, but Spence says he’s going to take the boos and grind harder to win the fight against Brook. The fans would be smart to keep their cheering to a minimum if they don’t want to unwittingly help Spence thrash Brook on Saturday.

Brook and Spence both made weight on Friday. Both fighters came in on weight at 146.5 pounds. Spence was booed loudly on Friday at the weigh-in by Brook’s fans. It didn’t unsettle Spence though. He seemed to really enjoy the booing. That’s not good news for Brook, because it shows what he’s up against on Saturday. Spence is one of those fighters that is totally self-contained, and not the type that needs reinforcement from the boxing public. Spence is going to be out there on Saturday night looking to obliterate Brook, and he’s got the tools to do the job.

Unfortunately for Brook and Spence, they still have to make weight on Saturday morning for the International Boxing Federation’s check weight. If one of them chooses to skip the weigh-in, then they won’t have the chance to fight for the IBF title. We saw Danny Jacobs skip the IBF’s fight day weight check for his fight against middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin on March 18 last year. Jacobs wanted extra time to rehydrate. having to make weight on the day of the fight limits how much fluids and food you can eat after Friday’s weigh-in.

“I’m not surprised people want me to win and pick me to win,” said Spence to Fighthype in responding to him being considered the favorite to unseat Brook on Saturday night. ”I don’t think it’s going to go the full 12 rounds at all. If it does, then it was a hard-fought battle ad a grueling battle,” said Spence in saying that he sees himself knocking Brook out.

Spence is the favorite in the fight on Saturday and for good reason. All you need to do is look at Spence’s past fights against guys like Leonard Bundu, Chris Van Heerden and Chris Algieri to recognize what kind of talent he is. It’s not personal. The odds-makers just see Spence as the better fighter than the 31-year-old Brook. It’s obvious why they see him as the favorite. Spence is taller, stronger, more talented and with the better amateur back ground. Brook is a good fighter, but he’s been spoon-fed a lot of soft opposition since he turned pro.

The reasons for Spence being picked as the favorite over Brook have to do with these things:

– Brook’s surgically repaired right eye. The eye hasn’t been tested, and it may not hold up under battle conditions. Is there a reason why Brook didn’t test his eye? He has a titanium plate that has been inserted into his right eye socket, which he claims makes the socket stronger than it was. I personally don’t believe that any body part is better than what it was after it’s been operated on. If Brook wants to believe his eye socket is stronger now, it’s on him, but I don’t think it is.

– Spence is younger.

– The power is on Spence’s side.

– Body punching. Spence is a body puncher, and Brook hasn’t faced many of those fighters during his long 13-year pro career. In fact, the only body puncher Brook has faced was Golovkin, and he only throw a small handful of shots to his body in the fight. On Saturday night, Spence is surely going to be targeting Brook’s body from the word go to weaken him before knocking him out.

– Brook’s weak resume. Brook has a lot of wins on his resume, but he’s only beaten one good fighter and that was Shawn Porter. Brook’s 35 other victories were against marginal opposition like Frankie Gavin, Jo Jo Dan and Matthew Hatton. The training wheels have been on Brook for most of his career. They were briefly taken off for Brook’s fight against Porter in 2014, but then put back on for his next 3 fights against Jo Jo Dan, Kevin Bizier and Gavin. The wheels were taken off again in Brook’s last fight against Golovkin, and it was a disaster for him with Golovkin winning by a 5th round knockout. Brook is now being put in an equally tough fight against Spence on Saturday. It just looks bad for Brook. I hate to say.

– Brook’s weight loss. Brook has had to cut weight from the 180s to 147. Yeah, Brook made the weight, but his problems are only starting, because he’s likely going to be weak on Saturday night when he gets inside the ring with Spence.

“It’s just going to be motivation,” said Spence in replying to the comment that he’ll be booed on Saturday. “I see everything as a positive. It’s just going to make me push and grind harder and push out the victory. At the end of the night, they’ll be cheering me on,”said Spence.

I agree with what Spence, 27, says about the booing from Brook’s boxing fans helping him rather than hurting him. The fans don’t realize what kind of fighter Spence is. It would be good for Brook’s boxing fans to get on the Spence bandwagon if he wins. It’s always good for fans not to harbor ill will when their fighter loses. After all, this is sports. It’s not political and it’s not war. Who knows, maybe Spence is the only one in the welterweight division that can beat Brook. We won’t know until Brook starts fighting the better fighters like Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter [without holding him all night long], Danny Garcia and Manny Pacquiao. Those are probably the best overall in the division beside Spence.

“I think we’re going to be in for a treat,” said Porter to Fighthype about the Brook-Spence fight. “I know Errol first hand. I know that he’s going to be ready. He’s ready for pretty much everything Kell is going to throw at him,” said Porter.

Porter didn’t go into specifics in talking about he meant by him saying. “He’s ready for pretty much everything Kell is going to throw at him.” I take that to mean that Porter is referring to Brooks spoiling tricks that he likes to use such as tying up his opponents in a clinch. Brook used that move exclusively against Porter to keep him from throwing punches in their fight in 2014. Brook got away with bending the rules against Porter without being disqualified or penalized by the referee, who clearly wasn’t enforcing the excessive clinching rule on the night.

”I would get Brook to use a few things he has done in different fights, especially tie up and control Errol – like he did against Shawn,” said Shawn Porter’s trainer/dad Kenny Porter to skysports.com.” I would definitely try and get Kell to keep him on the end of the jab and if it does get too rough, he is experienced when it comes to shutting people down. But I do think it is a bad idea trying to get close and have a brawl with him.”

I think it’s a bad idea as well for Brook to trade with Spence, because he doesn’t have the kind of power to beat Spence in a war. It wouldn’t work in Brook’s favor to fight Spence in a toe-to-toe battle. Brook might be able to land some shots, but he wouldn’t be able to get out of the way of Spence’s powerful body punches. Brook is very good at making guys miss when they go head hunting, but he’s terrible at blocking body shots. We saw that against Golovkin. Brook was there to be hit with body shots the entire night.

Standing on the outside to try and out-jab Spence won’t be easy for Brook to do because Spence has the longer reach, and the better jab. If Brook tries to keep Spence at the end of his jab, he’s going to find himself in a jabbing contest that he cannot win. There’s also the question of can Brook keep Spence off of him if he tries to deter him from pressuring with his jab alone. I don’t think Brook’s jab will keep Spence off of him.

Spence will walk through the jab and nail Brook with body shots. Spence is really powerful, and capable of throwing body shots while being held. So if Brook tries to dirty up the fight by clinching Spence 10+ times per round like he was doing against Porter, I don’t think it’s going to work.