By Edward Chaykovsky

The date for Kell Brook's mandatory defense of the IBF welterweight title may shift by a week to Sheffield United's Bramall Lane ground on May 27.

A deal was reached on Monday for Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) to make a mandatory defense of his title against undefeated Olympian Errol Spence (21-0, 18 KOs).

The deal came as a surprise to some, as Brook was being advised by members of his team. which includes promoter Eddie Hearn, to vacate the title and make a move to the super welterweight limit of 154-pounds.

Brook and Hearn were gunning for a fight with Amir Khan. Those discussions fell out when Khan refused to budge from a 70-30 split demand.

Hearn regards Spence as a much tougher fight for his man.

"The Amir Khan fight was there on a plate," Hearn told Sky Sports News HQ. "Let me tell you, this fight is five times tougher than Amir Khan, and this isn't really about the money for Kell Brook.

"He has been called out that he would duck this fight against Errol Spence, particularly by Amir Khan, and he says no, that's not my style, I'm fighting Errol Spence in front of my people. I'm going to defend my belt with pride and honour."

In his last fight, Brook moved up by two weight divisions to middleweight and was stopped in five rounds by division ruler Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs).

The Sheffield fighter was unwilling to part with the title he captured in 2014 with a close decision win over Shawn Porter. Hearn believes that a win over Spence will catapult Brook's standing as the top guy at welterweight. 

"I believe and Kell believes that beating Spence will make him stand out as the No 1 fighter in the division, and then I still don't think Amir Khan will want it, because something in his head does not want to enter the ring with Kell Brook. We have to move on and we must not deal with time wasters," Hearn said.

"Now we are finalising the date and the venue. Bramall Lane is of course the preferred option, we're in talks with the club, and we think we'll get a positive solution. I think May 27 at the moment is the favourite date and over the next few days we'll be meeting with the club, and also the council as well to try and get this dream fight booked in for Kell. It's a dream of his to box at Bramall Lane and I think this is the perfect fight to do it."