By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Errol Spence Jr. didn’t need to look far for the perfect sparring partner to help him prepare for Kell Brook.
Spence and Jermell Charlo, both of whom are trained by Derrick James, prepare for their fights at the same gym in Dallas and sparred many rounds against each other recently. It made sense for Charlo to work with the left-handed Spence because Charles Hatley, the opponent Charlo knocked out Saturday night in Brooklyn, regularly switched to a southpaw stance in many of his previous fights.
Their sparring sessions worked well for Spence, too.
“Kell Brook, he’s a guy who likes to throw the one-two,” Spence said. “That’s his favorite punch. That’s the punch he goes to, and the jab, too. With Jermell Charlo, he does the same thing. He jabs first, throws the one-two, fights from the outside and likes to set you up. And Jermell likes to set traps, too, as you can see what he did with Hatley.
“So it’s great sparring to spar somebody that thinks in the ring. He’s a taller guy, he uses his jab, he uses fundamentals, just like Kell Brook. So it’s great experience whenever you can spar a world champion. You know, iron sharpens iron. So it’s just great experience overall. A lot of fighters don’t get to spar a world champion preparing for a fight. So that’s the best sparring I can get right now.”
Spence will have to find other top sparring now that Charlo (29-0, 14 KOs) just made the first defense of his WBC super welterweight title. Still, James is certain Charlo’s contributions to Spence’s preparation will pay dividends next month.
The 27-year-old Spence (21-0, 18 KOs), of DeSoto, Texas, will challenge Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) for the IBF welterweight title May 27 at Bramall Lane, a soccer stadium in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England (Showtime).
“I think Jermell’s a lot faster than Kell Brook, more defensive-minded,” James said. “Kell Brook’s a great fighter, but I think that Jermell’s a lot better than he is. He’s a lot bigger, stronger and faster, so I think that makes a difference. For me, it was a two-turn thing. Initially, I had Errol spar with Jermell to help Jermell get ready for Charles Hatley. But then, when we went to England [for a press conference] and came back from the UK, it was time for them to get each other ready.
“So regardless of whatever, Kell Brook is a great fighter and I think he’ll bring a lot to the table. But Jermell is a bigger, better and faster fighter than Kell Brook. So if you think about him moving up [to fight Golovkin], it’s a lot of big guys up there, also. He’s not bigger than Errol. But in his mind, he is. So that’s the key to it, is that Jermell helped us out and he helped Jermell out. And that’s what brothers do, you know, what stablemates do.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
