Tag Archives: sheffield

Posted on 05/27/2017

Spence Dethrones Brook In Thriller
By: Sean Crose

In front of a jam packed, explosive hometown crowd in Sheffield, England, IBF welterweight champ Kell Brook went out like a British hero of old. Showing great gamesmanship and courage, Brook, whose eye was badly damaged by Gennady Golovkin months earlier, took a knee in the 11th round after being sent down by American challenger Errol Spence Jr. in the 10th. Brook was subsequently counted out. Spence can go home with a belt, but man, he had to fight for it.

The Texas native came out to a loud chorus of boos, which was no surprise, as over 25,000 fans had packed into Bramall Lane to see their countryman, Brook, defend his title strap. Brook’s entrance, on the other hand, was electric, which was also no surprise, as England is quickly becoming THE international hot spot (if not home base) for boxing. Each man visibly oozed confidence and the excitement was palpable in the lead up to the opening bell. Unfortunately, fans in the audience booed the American National Anthem, which spoke more to their individual personalities than it did to anything related to international relations.

The fight itself was extremely close…and extremely thrilling. Some rounds were nearly too close to call. Early on, in fact, it looked like Brook might successfully hold on to his belt. Spence worked the body effectively in clinches, though, and that undoubtedly helped tell the tale. The matter of Brook’s injured eye, however, cannot be overlooked. The man’s face looked a mess as the bout wore on. In short, Brook was wise to take a knee at the end. He came to fight…he didn’t come to lose his eye. “Devastated” was a word Brook used to describe his feelings after this loss. He shouldn’t be. He’s some kind of fighter.

As for Spence, the future is extremely bright. He wants Keith Thurman. He wants Manny Pacquiao. The bottom line is that the man wants greatness, and, although it may be way too soon to say, he may well be on his way to getting it. Another word on Brook, though: More fighters should be like the guy. He’s lost two in a row simply because he’s challenged himself twice in a row. Really challenged himself. How many others fighters can that be said of? Aside from Wladimir Klitschko, I can’t think of one.

This past weekend once again proves that boxing is certainly in a good place in 2017. Indeed, it’s been one major event after another. Even more importantly, it’s been one thrilling event after another. It’s a good time to be a fan.

Posted on 05/27/2017

Showtime World Championship Boxing Preview: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Kell Brook
By: William Holmes

On Saturday afternoon at the Bramall Lane Football Ground in Sheffield, England one of the best fights that could be made in the welterweight division will occur.

Uber prospect Errol Spence Jr. will take on IBF Welterweight Champion Kell Brook in Kell Brook’s home town and this bout will be televised on Showtime in the United States.

Eleven bouts are currently scheduled to take place on the undercard, including a WBA Super Middleweight Title bout between George Groves and Fedor Chudinov. It’s unlikely that the Groves bout will be televised in the United States absent a quick stoppage.

The following is a preview of the IBF Welterweight Title fight. The lead promoter for this bout is Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.

Kell Brook (36-1) vs. Errol Spence Jr. (21-0); IBF Welterweight Title

The welterweight division has always been a stacked division full of talent. Keith Thurman currently holds the WBA and WBC World Titles, Kell Brook holds the IBF Title, and Manny Pacquiao holds the WBO title, but only Kell Brook had the courage to move up two weight classes to face Gennady Golovkin and give him a better fight than most expected.

Brook could have taken an easy fight after his bout with Golovkin and most boxing experts would not have blamed him. However, Brook has decided to take on one of the most dangerous prospects in the sport today, Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr.

Errol Spence was an amateur star on the United States amateur scene and was a 2011 US National Champion and a 2012 Olympic team member. Kell Brook didn’t compete in the Olympics, but was able to experience a good amount of success as an amateur in England, including two Amateur Boxing Association of England titles.

Spence appears to have the advantage in the physicals. Spence will have about a half an inch height advantage, a three inch reach advantage, and is four years younger than Brook. Spence also appears to have the edge in power. Spence has stopped eighteen of his opponents and is currently riding an eight fight stoppage streak.

Brook also has power in his hands as he has stopped twenty five of his opponents. Seven of his past eight wins were stoppage victories, but his last bout was a TKO loss.

Both boxers have been fairly active the past two years. Spence fought twice in 2016 and four times in 2015. Brook fought twice in 2016 and twice in 2015.

Spence has soundly defeated the likes of Leonard Bundu, Chris Algieri, Alejandro Barrera, Chris Van Heerden, Phil Lo Greco, Samuel Vargas, Ronald Cruz, Emmanuel Lartei Lartey. Kell Brook has defeated the likes of Kevin Bizier, Frankie Gavin, Shawn Porter, Vyacheslav Senchenko, Carson Jones, Matthew Hatton, Lovemore Ndou, Michael Jennings.

This is a tough bout to choose the winner. Spence will be in enemy territory and the 30,000 expected fans in attendance will be loudly cheering for Brook. However, Brook is coming off a TKO loss to Gennady Golovkin and has not been seen in the ring since.

Additionally, Brook will have to make the cut back down to 147 again after competing in the middleweight division.

This is a rare time that we get to see a young prospect with high expectations take on an established champion still in the midst of his athletic prime, and it’s a fight that hardcore boxing fans are looking forward to.

It’s a fight that this writer expects Errol Spence Jr. to officially announce to the world that he is, in fact, the next big thing with a convincing and clear victory.

Posted on 06/03/2016

Kell Brook – The Special One?
By Daniel Arissol

There is a man, a fighting man. He hails from Sheffield, England. He is undefeated in 36 professional fights. 25 of those fights have ended in knockouts. His speed and accuracy have led to many pugilists either avoiding the welterweight supremo or have simply woken up in the middle of the square ring with 20,000 fans screaming and chanting the name of the IBF champion of the world, Kell “The special one” Brook.

Brook won the title fighting against Shawn Porter in the stubhub centre in Carson, California back in August 2014. Most people had Porter pipped to win this bout, including the likes of fellow welterweights WBA champ Keith Thurman, Amir Khan and Devon Alexander. Porter had defeated Alexander to gain the IBF strap and knocked out Paulie Malignaggi in the 4th round in his first defence of the title. Kell had worked his way up the IBF rankings defeating the likes of Matthew Hatton, Carson Jones (twice) and Viacheslav Senchenko in order to be the mandatory contender for Porter’s belt. Once the bell rang for the first round of their title showdown in Carson we got what we expected from Porter. Sprawling shots from all angles that over-powered the likes of Malignaggi didn’t seem to have the same effect on the special one. Kell was simply picking and placing his shots and was countering accurately. The judges saw the cleaner work was coming from the challenger and at the end of 12 hard fought rounds between both fighters, Brook’s arm was raised as the victorious challenger after a majority decision. Porter’s trainer and father, Kenny Porter, had claimed that Brook was guilty of excessive clinching throughout the fight, however, this was not the general consensus amongst the boxing fraternity that saw the fight with many believing the decision should’ve gone Brooks way, although some claimed a draw was fairer. Team Porter made some noise about wanting a rematch but didn’t seem to force the issue and have since chosen a different route, Shawn is fighting Keith Thurman for his WBA title on June 25th at the Barclays centre, Brooklyn, New York.

Kell returned home to Sheffield to a heroes welcome and defended his world title against the little known Jo Jo Dan, winning via TKO in the 4th round. However, four weeks after winning the IBF title he went on a family vacation to Tenerife, Spain to relax and unwind with his loved ones. One night he was invited to a party which ended in an unprovoked machete attack. He was rushed to hospital were his condition was critical due to heavy blood loss. He needed 32 metal staples in his thigh and needed rehabilitation to be able to walk let alone run again. He has since made a 100% recovery and is aiming to dominate the welterweight division and possibly dip his toes a division above. He does have one problem in completing his quest though… He is the most avoided man in the division and one of the most avoided in boxing today.

Amir Khan, Danny Garcia and Timothy Bradley have all recently refused to enter negotiations for a mega fight with the IBF king. The British public would love Brook v Khan but even after his brutal KO defeat with Canelo, he is still unwilling to sign up for a huge domestic showdown. One man, however, is prepared to face him. WBO champion Jessie Vargas. Terms have been agreed and the date and venue seem to be 27th August at Bramall Lane, Sheffield. This unification fight will be shown as a PPV in the UK. Vargas (27-1-0 10ko) hails from Los Angeles but now fights out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He defeated the much heralded Sadam “world kid” Ali to claim the vacant WBO title. His only defeat came against Timothy Bradley via unanimous decision last June. Vargas will be seen as the best competitor since Porter but many see the result going the same way thus making Kell a two title world champion. Brook and his team have been looking for a big name to fight in the UK or US and, by unifying these titles, he should be one step closer to the winner of Thurman/Porter or even Khan. The WBC champion, Danny Garcia, may have to defend against Khan this year which potentially could lead to another unification fight.

With Kell now 30 years of age he is now undoubtedly in his prime. He is in a division with big names. He has a good promoter and he is a current undefeated world champion. He has all the attributes to be the star name in the division and be a global star in the process. When you look at the meteoric rise of someone like Anthony Joshua, who has been knocking out second and third rate opponents on his way to the farcical world title UK PPV against the terrible Charles Martin, there seems to be a gulf of popularity amongst TV networks that really can be the difference between world champion and global superstar. Perhaps the likes of Al Haymon’s PBC will assist all fighters by showing live events on free TV so new boxing fans with no prejudice will decide for themselves who really deserves their attention. After all, boxing is and always has been a sport for the masses. As for Kell Brook, his public eagerly await with baited breath. World champion or global superstar.