This Saturday, Britain IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (31 years old, orthodox, 36-1-25KO’s) will defend his belt against the American Errol Spence Jr (27 years old, southpaw, 21-0-18KO’s) in his hometown in front of a sell-out Sheffield's Bramall Lane.
Quoting former five-weight world champion Sugar Ray Leonard:
"This fight is so intriguing and I like it because the winner is going to be based upon who carries out their game plan and who doesn't get too cute, who doesn't get too comfortable, the guy who fights this fight, wins this fight".
Brook suffered his first loss of his professional career in September when he went up in weight and fought Golvkin, one of the hardest punchers in boxing right now. Days after the fight, Brook underwent orbital bone surgery for a broken eye socket.
Let’s analyze both fighter style and skill packages ahead of their upcoming bout.
Kell Brook
Kell Brook, who moved up two weight classes to meet the Kazakh GGG, will need to lose at least 13lbs when he hits the scales on Friday.
He has a good jab, but in general, all his punches are good.
Brook is not that fast, but he is extremely accurate and together with some power makes him a dangerous opponent for everyone in the division: when he throws, he usually lands.
His defense is pretty solid, and in the Gennady Golovkin fight, he showed a good chin.
Brook is the defending champion, and he is in front of its hometown, he will have more motivation and proud, but after surgery, his eye is really 100%?
Errol Spence Jr
Errol Spence Jr. is a young man with extreme potential; after a sparring session, Floyd Mayweather said of him: "Actually he gave me good work, real good work and he pushed me."
Spence gets better after each fight and possesses speed, good technique, balance and some nasty solid punches to the body, which will be a factor if the fight goes deeper in the rounds. Spence has a slight reach advantage, and I think more punching power.
His chin hasn't really been tested yet, and its defense seems ok.
Conclusion
According to Bovada boxing betting; Errol Spence is the slight (-135) favorite over Kell Brook (+105), and I agree with them. I think it won’t be an easy fight, but in the end, Spence has all the tools to come out victorious.
Comment below your thoughts and prediction,
Thank you for reading!
