AN expectant, packed crowd at Sheffield?s Bramall Lane were treated to an excellent fight on Saturday night as arguably the two best welterweights in the world clashed.
And the 27,000 boxing fans were not let down.
Kell Brook looked confident very fit, strong and refocused back at his championship weight after his brief foray at middleweight where he was defeated by pound-for-pound number 1 Gennady Golovkin.
He started the contest well, immediately discarding those memories and getting his jab working, looking to push the undefeated Errol Spence Jr on to the back foot.
Brooke had a swagger about his work in the second as he landed with sharp jabs. Although towards the end of the round I noticeably saw a slight change as Spence, hands held high, started pushing forward.
Two more close and hard fought rounds followed that had both men landing with good punches.
Brook?s more unorthodox style was reaping reward as time and time again he caught Spence with lead rights.
Spence continued setting a hard pace, hands high trying to punish Brook?s body whenever he could, giving me an inkling off the gameplan the Spence camp were trying to adopt.
The fifth round showed the first signs of a tactical change as Spence started to get the upper hand, finishing the round well with solid body punches and a big combination at the bell.
A regroup by both men in the sixth followed, and at the start of the seventh and I could sense a tale of two halves as Brook was trying desperately to keep control of the fight and his grasp on that IBF belt.
But Spence, with youth, strength and that extra hunger you carry with that coveted undefeated 0 still proudly on your record, upped the pace.
The Golovkin fight was now starting to replay in Kell?s mind and to make matters worse a swelling started to appear on Brook?s left eye, mirroring the damage he received to end his middleweight hopes.
I could imagine what Brook was going through having been there and unfortunately done that and the outcome was becoming inevitable.
Brook was decked early in the 10th round but incredibly showed tremendous heart fighting back and even landing with a big uppercut and right hands to finish.
Spence was out-pressuring in the 11th, looking to land with the jab. Brook was blinking and obviously in pain from the eye, but still threw shots back.
A good hook to the body from Spence saw Brook back off. He glanced at the crowd, who seemed to know the game was up, then took the knee in submission after a gallant effort.
Errol Spence Jr had pulled off a tremendous career best win and got his hands on what I think will be the first of a few belts this young charismatic Texas fighter will hold
But what next for Brook?
Was the writing on the wall when he decided to take on Gennady Golovkin and forsake his undefeated record and consequently surrender his will?
Or was it just pushing his body to far too soon in a desperate attempt to recompense for his mistake?
Either way it’s a new era and for Errol Spence Jr “The Truth is finally out”.
