By Keith Idec
There’s nothing about challenging Kell Brook in his hometown that overly concerns Errol Spence Jr.
Not being treated as the ‘B’ side in by far the biggest fight of his four-year pro career. Not the huge crowd that’ll heavily favor Brook. And not the potential for that pro-Brook contingent to influence the judges’ scoring.
“I’m willing to go over there because I’m the challenger,” Spence told BoxingScene.com. “He’s the champion, I’m the challenger and it’s gonna be electrifying over there. The UK has a big, big boxing fan base. People come out to see the fights. There’s gonna be a lot of people there. It’s gonna be electrifying. I’m a fighter, so I don’t mind going to his backyard and taking his title and bringing it back to U.S. soil.”
The 26-year-old Spence (21-0, 18 KOs), of DeSoto, Texas, is expected to box Brook (36-1, 25 KOs), the IBF welterweight champion, on May 20 in Sheffield, England. An official announcement hasn’t been made, but Eddie Hearn, Brook’s promoter, intends to stage the fight at Bramall Lane, a soccer stadium that can accommodate more than 30,000 fans for boxing.
Battling Brook in England is a disadvantage for Spence, but both boxers will make more money by bringing the fight to England. Spence plans to feed off the fans’ dislike for him once he enters the stadium May 20.
“It’s gonna be a lot of motivation,” Spence said. “It’s a huge fight in the welterweight division. I think Brook is one of the best fighters in the division – me and him. So it’s gonna be a great fight. I’m sure there’s gonna be a lot of fans there. I heard the capacity is like 30,000-plus. I’m expecting it to be electrifying and I’m just gonna use all his fans as motivation.”
Spence, a 2012 American Olympian, has experience competing in hostile territory. He has boxed a British opponent in England, a Russian opponent in Russia and several South American foes in or around their hometowns.
“I’ve been in a lot of international tournaments in those kinds of environments – especially in a lot of tournaments in South America, where I was fighting a lot of hometown guys,” Spence said. “They had blowhorns and stuff like that. You’re fighting a hometown guy and it’s an arena full of his countrymen.
“I’ve got like 30 international fights. I’ve done fought in Russia. I fought in England a couple of times, fighting the home guys. It’s something that I’m not new to, but definitely in the pros it’s gonna be something to get used to. I’m sure he’s gonna have a lot of fans there. Mostly everybody’s gonna be rooting for him, so I’m just gonna use it as motivation. I’m not gonna get rattled because I’m built for this title situation.”
The heavy-handed Spence plans to beat Brook by knockout, but if their 12-rounder goes to the scorecards Spence is confident he’ll get a fair shake in enemy territory.
“It’s no concern,” Spence said. “Of course I’m fighting in his hometown and he’s the champion. So I’m gonna have to take the belt from him. But there’s no concern at all about the judges because if I’m not mistaken, the IBF picks the judges, picks the officials. So there’s no concern at all with that.”
Spence has fought once outside the United States once since he turned pro in November 2012. He stopped South Africa’s Chris van Heerden (25-2-1, 12 KOs) in the eighth round of that September 2015 bout in Toronto, Canada.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
