Brook vs Spence set to be officially announced this week or early next – May 27 at Bramall Lane

By James Slater - 03/14/2017 - Comments

IBF welterweight champ Kell Brook is all set to make his ring return against unbeaten mandatory challenger Errol Spence Jr. on May 27. Promoter Eddie Hearn told Sportsmail that all the contracts have been “agreed” and that all is needed now is confirmation from the Sheffield Council that the fight’s venue will be football ground Bramall Lane.

Spence has stated he is wholly un-fazed at the idea of facing Brook in his hometown in front of approx 28,000 fans, while these fans are eager to see Brook back in action for the first time since his brave September stoppage loss to Gennady Golovkin.

“All the contracts are agreed and have been sent to the IBF, “Hearn said. “This is now the only fight we are looking at for Kell and it’s a big one. We are speaking with Sheffield Council about a license for Bramall Lane on May 27 for a capacity of 28,000. We need to go over the policing, safety and other requirements. All being well we will be able to confirm the fight by the end of this week or the start of next week.”

A genuinely intriguing, 50/50 match-up, the winner between Brook and Spence will arguably be able to make a claim of being the best welterweight in the world today; although Keith Thurman and his fans and supporters would no doubt argue strongly about such a claim. Either way, the winner of the May showdown will be in position for even bigger, unification fights.

Can Brook hold onto his belt, or will the effort of making weight coupled with the bone-breaking loss at the hands of GGG prove too much for him – to say nothing about the superb skills Spence possesses? Brook could have, perhaps should have, taken the easier option and vacated his belt and moved up to 154 pounds.

But, to his great credit, doing the easy thing is not what Brook is about. We’ll soon see if he’ll live to regret his decision. Two losses on the bounce can be devastating for any fighter.