Thurman Will Not Avoid Brook vs. Spence Winner, Says DiBella

By Edward Chaykovsky

Last Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) won a twelve round split decision over Danny Garcia to unify the WBC, WBA welterweight titles.

One of the next targets on Thurman's list is the IBF welterweight title, which is currently held by Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs). In late May, Brook is going to make a mandatory defense against Errol Spence (21-0, 18 KOs) in Sheffield.

There is also a WBC eliminator next month between Andre Berto and Shawn Porter, with the winner landing a crack at Thurman.

As far as Thurman, he will not shy away from facing the Brook-Spence winner, according to promoter Lou DiBella.

"Keith is the kind of guy who will fight the biggest and best fight that is put in front of him," said DiBella to Sky Sports. "He's not a guy that walks away from anything. Let Kell and Errol fight first and then see what happens.

"I think right now the best fights are being made in the welterweight division. The best are fighting the best. You have obviously Brook and Spence. You have [Andre] Berto fighting [Shawn] Porter. There are a lot of good fights being made at welterweight and I think there is going to continue to be a process of elimination. I would guess that by the end of 2017, or early 2018, that one guy is going to emerge as the man."

As far as the outcome between Spence and Brook, DiBella admits it's a tough fight to call. In the UK, Brook is the favorite and has the hometown advantage, while in the United States Spence is viewed as the favorite to come away with the IBF world title.

"It's a very tough fight. I think Spence Jr is a tremendous talent, he's a tremendous young fighter. Maybe one of the better young fighters I have seen in a long time," said DiBella.

"Kell Brook is an excellent fighter and it's a very tough fight. Spence has never fought anyone as good as Brook. It's also going to be interesting to see how Brook adjusts to going back down to 147[lbs]. In England, I'm going to guess that Kell is the favourite, but I wouldn't bet against Spence. To be honest, I think it's a very hard fight to call."