By Carlos Boogs
Derrick James, head trainer of undefeated Olympian Errol Spence (21-0, 18 KOs), finds it very strange that IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) is continuously discussing his one career blemish while barely mentioning any of his 36 wins.
Spence and Brook went face to face on Wednesday in Sheffield, were the boxers officially announced their upcoming fight. The anticipated bout takes place at Bramall Lane on Saturday May 27, live on Sky Sports Box Office and live on Showtime in the United States.
Brook is making the fourth defense of his title. He captured the belt in August 2014 when he traveled over to the United States to win a close twelve round decision over Shawn Porter at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
During much of Wednesday's press conference, Brook reflected on his defeat to IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
Last September, Brook moved up by two weight divisions to challenge Golovkin at The O2 in London. Brook started very well in the fight and had his moments, but ultimately he suffered a fractured orbital bone and was stopped in five rounds.
In the opinion of James, Brook needs to stop dwelling on a career loss and focus more attention on praising past performances in the fights that he actually won.
"I just said [to Brook]... talk about your victories. That's all I'm saying. Don't talk about the fight that you lost. You have 36 other fights that you can talk about. We can't dwell on a loss. That was a loss. He can take that one, keep the 36, and put [the loss] in the rubbish," James told BoxingScene.com.
"But the reality is, we can't give a consolation prize for a loss. You lost, I don't give you any extra credit for that. You lost. You manned up and thought you were good enough to beat that guy - and in that fight you learned that you were not good enough. That's the one lesson that he learned, that he's not as good as he thought he was - and that's okay."