Errol Spence Jr. takes welterweight title from Kell Brook in his native England

Errol Spence Jr., right, lands a right hook on Kell Brook. Spence took Brook’s welterweight title via 11th-round knockout/Photo by Reuters via the Mirror

 

Errol Spence Jr. on Saturday took the welterweight title from Kell Brook via 11th-round knockout at Bramall Lane Football Ground in Brook’s native Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.

Spence, of Desoto, Texas, dropped Brook in the 10th round. Brook, with his left eye badly damaged, took a knee midway through the 11th and the fight was over.

Brook (36-2) was attempting to make the fourth successful defense of his belt. He was coming off a fifth-round TKO loss to middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.

Spence (22-0, 19 KOs), a 2012 U.S. Olympian, was in his first world-title fight. He was up by one, three and five points at the time of the stoppage.

 

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Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia weigh in on Errol Spence Jr.-Kell Brook fight

Errol Spence Jr

Errol Spence Jr./Photo courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions

 

There is been a lot of talk about Errol Spence Jr. and how good he might become. The boxing world will find out Saturday if Spence is indeed the real deal when he challenges Kell Brook for his welterweight title at Bramall Lane Football Ground in Brook’s native England (on Showtime).

Current welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman and former champion Danny Garcia this week were asked to handicap what figures to be an entertaining bout. They, too, are anxious to see what their fellow American can do in this one.

“This is an interesting fight,” Thurman said. “I have not followed Kell too much, but I have obviously seen Errol fight in the U.S. Errol is a tough, young fighter who is just getting into the public’s eye, and Kell obviously has the strength of the British crowd on his side.

“It should be a tough fight that really speaks to the strength of the welterweight division. Both fighters are men that I would be open to fighting as I continue to unify the division in 2018.”

Thurman in March won a split-decision over Garcia in a title-unification bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Garcia believes this fight is a tossup.

“I think this is a 50/50 fight,” he said. “I think the person with the better game plan is going to win. There’s a lot of pressure to go into someone’s backyard like Spence is doing, and he’s never faced a fighter in his prime before like Brook.

“It’s definitely a big test for him and a big step up in competition. If he is ready, he can do it.”

Spence, a southpaw out of Desoto, Texas, is 21-0 with 18 knockouts. Brook is 36-1 with 25 knockouts.

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Errol Spence Jr.-Leonard Bundu draw big ratings on final day of Rio Games

Errol Spence Jr., left, lands a punch on Leonard Bundu during their fight Sunday from Coney Island, N.Y./DiBella Entertainment photo by Ed Diller

 

Fighting on NBC on the final day of the Rio Games on Sunday afternoon, welterweight contender Errol Spence Jr. and Leonard Bundu toiled at a peak audience of 6.4 million viewers, according to Premier Boxing Champions, which cited Nielsen.

Spence and Bundu squared off following Team USA’s gold-medal performance in men’s basketball; NBC televised the Rio Games. Spence and Bundu averaged 4.8 million viewers during the broadcast. Their bout – won by Spence via sixth-round knockout from Coney Island, N.Y. – was the highest-rated PBC fight to date, according to a PBC news release.

“I knew this would be the most important fight of my career and the goal was to not just win, but to put on a spectacular one-sided performance,” Spence Jr. said. “It felt good to go out there and give everyone watching a great show and to do it in front of such a large television audience makes it even better.”

Spence, of Desoto, Texas, is 21-0 with 18 knockouts.

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