Proving once again how he is never, ever in a dull fight, Mexican warrior Orlando Salido stopped late sub Aristides Perez last night in Sonora, Mexico. The teak-tough veteran forced Perez – a late replacement for original foe Amphon Suriyo, who reportedly encountered visa problems – to remain on his stool at the start of the 8th round.
Salido is now 44-14-3(31), while Perez is now 30-10-2(16).
It’s one of the harshest insults that can be thrown at a fighter: that of him being a quitter. Though every fighter who steps into the ring deserves immense respect, it is still considered a let down, unforgivable even, if a hero, a fighter fans have paid money to see go to war, quits during the action.
Right now, former IBF welterweight champ Kell Brook is on the receiving end, with many fans, and fellow fighters, hurling the quitter tag at him. Brook, badly busted up around the left eye, opted to take a knee in the 11th round of his thrilling fight with new king Errol Spence Junior, and though Brook says he simply could not see in that torrid round, there seem to be few people willing to cut him much slack.
Undefeated welterweight Errol Spence Jr. dethroned defending champion Kell Brook and won the IBF Welterweight World Championship with an 11th round TKO (1:47) in the main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Saturday in front of 27,000 raucous fans at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England.
Spence, (22-0, 19 KOs), who with this victory became the first American to dethrone an Englishman on British soil in nearly a decade, executed a brilliant game plan to strip Brook, (31-2, 25 KOs), of his belt before his hometown crowd.
Tonight in Sheffield, in a great, incredibly fast-paced action fight, George Groves became a world champion at the fourth time of asking, stopping a very tough and game Fedor Chudinov in the 6th round. Groves really did hit Chudinov with absolutely everything in the 6th, giving the referee no choice but to dive in and call a halt.
The official time was 1:14 of the sixth and Groves improved to 26-3(19). Russia’s Chudinov, in being stopped for the first time as a pro, is now 14-2(10).
Errol Spence Jr. (22-0, 19 KOs) put in a workmanlike performance in wearing down Kell “Special K” Brook (36-2, 25 KOs) in stopping him in the 11th round to take his IBF welterweight title from him at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England. Brook quit on in the 11th after taking knee for the second time in the fight.
Tonight on the big Sheffield bill, Jamaica’s Lenroy Thomas boxed his way to a very close, even debatable 12 round split decision win over crowd favourite David Allen. Winning by scores of 115-114 twice, the third judge scoring it 115-113 for Allen, Thomas won the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title.
Now 21-4(10) the 32 year old southpaw boxed on the backfoot throughout, using his nice right jab as well as his sharp counter punching skills. Allen, now 11-2-1(8) was fighting his usual trundle-forward fight, forcing Thomas to work hard and a good number of people – Sky Sports pundit Carl Froch included – felt the 25 year old did more work and was deserving of the verdict.
A fight dawns on us, both men continue to fight to prove their worth. Brook and Spence are both in the bright spotlights engaging in what may be the most exciting bout of the year.
I have spent much time, analysing Kell Brook and the contribution he brings to the fighting art. I have often sat in his corner a detractor, aligning with the belief that the Special One was not as remarkable as his more charismaticrivals. Kell Brook has heart; he stepped into the ring against one of boxing most feared executers, Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin. I do not think many analysts gave Brook a great chance against the lethal GGG. However what I witnessed in the second round of their contest had me redefining my stance. To see the smaller Brook dishing out punishment to GGG that I have rarely seen him have to absorb. Brook lost the bout, but in that bout he proved so much; He has a remarkable jaw, in round five he swallowed some GGG laced bombs in such a manner that we have not seen any other stand up to.
Amir Khan has arrived in Sheffield, a guest pundit for Sky Sports, and the former 140 pound king has said he gives a slight edge to his countryman and possible future rival Kell Brook over Errol Spence Junior. Khan, when asked who he wanted to win tonight, answered Brook.
Khan said he sees Brook winning “a very tough fight,” and that if he does so, he could then fight the IBF welterweight champ in what would be a huge British super-fight. But does Khan really, truly want to fight Brook? This question has been asked now for a few years, and still we have no definitive answer. Brook definitely wants the fight, calling “Queen” Khan out so many times as he has done. But for whatever reason or reasons, Khan has not agreed to terms and signed on for the fight.
British promoter Eddie Hearn appears to be counting his chicks before they’ve hatched with him talking up a much hoped for fight between his fighter IBF welterweight champion Kell “Special K” Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) and former light welterweight champion Amir “King” Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) for later this year in the UK if Brook can get past mandatory challenger Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs) tonight in their fight at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England.
Errol Spence’s overall goal on Saturday night is to knockout IBF welterweight champion Kell “Special K” Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) in front of his own British fans at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England. Spence, 27, doesn’t want to beat Brook in front of his fans just to be mean-spirited. He wants to beat the 31-year-old Brook so that he can take his boxing fans and add him to his own collection of fans.