Kell Brook: I just wonder if [Errol Spence Jr] has got a taste of Jeff Lacy about him

Reigning and undefeated IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook heard unbeaten hot prospect Errol Spence Junior call him out after his impressive stoppage win over Chris Algieri this past Saturday, and Brook, in speaking with Sky Sports, says a fight with the classy southpaw will be “interesting when he becomes the mandatory and we have to get it on.” However, Brook – who lists WBC welterweight ruler Danny Garcia as his first choice for his next fight – isn’t yet convinced “The Truth” is the complete article.

“He’s still not heard of as a big name but he’s definitely showing he’s starting to fight and it will be interesting when he becomes the mandatory and we have to fight,” Brook said today. “But I just wonder if he’s got a taste of Jeff Lacy about him, this big hype thing – and look what Joe Calzaghe did to him. I don’t know but I have a feeling like that about him. But we won’t know until we get it on.”

Spence Jr said post-fight on Saturday how he wants the fight – and, like Brook, a fight with Garcia also – and that he would come to the UK to get it. First, the 20-0 Texan must defeat Konstantin Ponomarev in a final IBF eliminator, and who knows if Brook will still be IBF champ by that time. If he is, Brook-Spence Jr would be a great fight, possibly the big fight Brook has been craving for some months now. It will be interesting to see what happens in the meantime: will Brook get a unification fight with Garcia? Will Brook get his second choice of opponent, in Adrien Broner?

“He does wind me up because he’s got no respect for the game,” Brook said about Broner. “I’m not as bad as some people who say they ‘hate’ him, I just take him for what he is. But he’s someone I’d like to smack about!”

Brook would probably have to go back to the US – the scene of his title-win over Shawn Porter, which is Brook’s biggest win to date – if he really wants Broner; Garcia too come to that. But Brook has travelled before and he would surely do so again. But for the Spence Jr fight, it could be Spence who has to leave the comforts of his homeland in order to try and become world champion.

Brook again said that July of this year will bring him a big name. “They can all fight at this level. I am ready to go in July. I just want big names,” he said.

Will Brook finally get one in three months time?

And as for the chances of Spence Jr being brutally exposed – Calzaghe-Lacy style – by Brook, or by anyone else for that matter; anything’s possible, but Spence Jr certainly has many good judges convinced he is the real deal.