By Keith Idec

Errol Spence Jr. and his trainer, Derrick James, ridiculed Kell Brook on Wednesday for continually discussing a fight he lost against Gennady Golovkin.

Brook and his trainer, Dominic Ingle, fired back by reminding Spence and James that the best win on Spence’s resume, a fifth-round stoppage of a smaller, older Chris Algieri, isn’t as impressive as Brook’s majority-decision defeat of former IBF 147-pound champion Shawn Porter. Their disagreement became a shouting match during the press conference Wednesday in Sheffield, England, to officially announce the Brook-Spence showdown.

Afterward, Great Britain’s Brook promised he’ll make Spence pay in a bout Brook thinks the unbeaten American contender has taken too soon.

“Forgetting that [Golovkin] fight, I’m gonna smash Errol’s face in,” Brook told England’s iFL TV. “Forgetting that fight, it took me too long to become world champion [against Porter] in Carson, California … the politics, injuries and all the sh*t in between to become champion. And just to give [the title] up to move up to 154 [pounds], like all me team and everyone around me, Eddie, everybody wanted me to do … No, it took me too long. You’ve got to take this from me. You’ve gotta take it. It’s gonna be hard to make welterweight again – it is. But I’m looking forward to the adventure. I’m looking forward to being a hundred percent on the night and being ready.”

Handicappers have installed Spence (21-0, 18 KOs) as a slight favorite over Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) two months in advance of their May 27 battle at Bramall Lane, an outdoor soccer stadium in Sheffield, Brook’s hometown. The odds don’t matter to Brook, who was a huge underdog entering his fifth-round technical knockout defeat to Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs), whom Brook moved up two weight classes to challenge September 10 at London’s O2 Arena.

“This Spence kid, he’s very confident,” Brook said. “There’s a lot of hype about him in America, and he has been looking the part, getting rid of everyone they’ve put in front of him. But he’s never faced anything like me. And I think he’s come to this fight a bit too soon. I’ve got the experience. I’m big, I’m strong, and I know what it takes to be champion.”

The 30-year-old Brook respects Spence’s ability, but noted that the strong southpaw from suburban Dallas has been brought along against mostly a low level of opposition.

“Everything that’s been asked of him, he’s been doing,” Brook said. “He’s been knocking guys over, but they’re not Kell Brook. They’re not Kell Brook.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.