FIGHT THREAD....CONTAINS SPOILERS

[mobilemaster8]

First topic message reminder :

Evening ladies and gents....

Anyone tuning in for tonight? Should be a cracker.

Just on the Allen fight. He is poor. If he had no chin, he would be absolutely garbage.

Have David Allen down 5 rounds after 6...that basically means he is up by 4.

[hogey]

Well done to Spence, think I was wrong about the weight though it clearly caught up with him. He was winning and in control and then in the blink of an eye he was completely gone. Spence is very decent, but I don't think he is particularly special and I think Thurman will beat him at this stage and maybe Garcia as well. He looked solid but certainly not the second coming he was billed as and he will need to do more against the other top fighters in the division who are more comfortable at the weight.

[TRUSSMAN66]

Spence got the job done and he had never fought in that league before...Brook is a superb talent...

All about the win..

[EX7EY]

F*ck sake adam. You're involved in every argument on this site, can we not just talk about the fight. Jesus christ.

[AdamT]

Ok peace. Spence thought brilliantly once he settled. I do think Brook gassed.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Were are the clowns that doubted Spence. Oh he looks drained. Oh he lost the weigh in. Lol

Fight is over. Brook is done

Grow up you clown.

Spot on Hammersmith, should start banning school kids on this site, daft little t**t.

I just don't see the point in it to be honest and it's always the same person.

Spence Jnr deserved to win and fair play to him.

[TRUSSMAN66]

Hope Brook can fight again at 154...Think the weight didn't help tonight but Spence did land some good body shots.

Brook could do damage at 154..Forget Khan at 147...Catchweight Khan or 154 if he carries on for me.

[temporary21]

Brooks straight to the hospital. They reckon proper damage to the eye possibly

[temporary21]

Don't think it's wise for him to fight again. He's clearly worried about his eyes

[owen10ozzy]

Hogey think youve been bluffed by sky im afraid....at no point was either in control at any point till late in fight....I dont think either could argue being up by more than 1 until around 6th or 7th...Spence took over then.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Hope Brook can fight against at 154...Think the weight didn't help tonight but Spence did land some good body shots.

Brook could do damage at 154..Forget Khan at 147...Catchweight Khan or 154 if he carries on for me.

I'd rather he retired, stopped twice in a row on separate eye injuries, there's clearly an underlying issue there.

[AdamT]

Eye fractures are dangerous. I still see double if I look at certain angles.

[TRUSSMAN66]

He is no quitter that is for sure..

Future is golden for Spence....Beats Thurman for me.

[TRUSSMAN66]

Hope Brook can fight against at 154...Think the weight didn't help tonight but Spence did land some good body shots.

Brook could do damage at 154..Forget Khan at 147...Catchweight Khan or 154 if he carries on for me.

I'd rather he retired, stopped twice in a row on separate eye injuries, there's clearly an underlying issue there.

More than likely...

[Hammersmith harrier]

He is no quitter that is for sure..

Future is golden for Spence....Beats Thurman for me.

Beats Thurman and Garcia but I reckon Pacquiao might fancy it as one last hurrah.

[AdamT]

Beats all welter weights.

[Dylan1979]

He is no quitter that is for sure..

Future is golden for Spence....Beats Thurman for me.

Agree!

That fight has to happen asap. Think Thurman is out for a while though, 6-8 month lay off.
I've said it before, Thurman is not too keen on getting in the ring with Spence.

[milkyboy]

Credit to spence, thought he looked the classier operator. I had brook slightly up through 7, but he gassed, slowed and then started getting tagged. Was it the weight? Was it spence's body shots? Did spence just pace himself better? Hard to say, and does it matter?

I wasn't blown away by spence but he got the job done, fair play.

[AdamT]

Body shots and weight. Thought Spence would start better, but the fight ended roughly how thought it would.

Brook should beat Khan, then retire.

[Dylan1979]

Anyone think Crawford gives Spence a run for his money?

[AdamT]

Not sure. Spence looks rangy.

Crawford is a class act, but I wouldn't pick him. That's a huge win for Spence. Brook is no mug.

[The Beast]

Elite level fighter no doubt however after 6 rounds I honestly thought Brook was getting the better of it but...drained away. Perhaps weight drained or Spence's early body work? Probably ahead of Thurman/Garcia et al but I think they would be similarly tough competitive (and very entertaining). Khan might be interesting, his speed could pose different problems at least for x no. of rounds.

If there is an underlying issue taking Adam's remarks into consideration Brook needs to seriously consider his future, hopefully he has made plenty of money and it is not a consideration.

[The Beast]

Credit to spence, thought he looked the classier operator. I had brook slightly up through 7, but he gassed, slowed and then started getting tagged. Was it the weight? Was it spence's body shots? Did spence just pace himself better? Hard to say, and does it matter?

I wasn't blown away by spence but he got the job done, fair play.

Sorry milky I was typing away and had not read your post, obviously I agree!!!

[AdamT]

I'm being serious with the eye stuff. I was advised never to fight, or spar again. The risk of going blind is certainly there after orbital fractures.

Do you guys remember the eye Manny left Margarito? I think that Same bad eye was a cause of Cotto getting his revenge.

Brook isn't a quitter. The eye is in bad shape and maybe he should call it a day.

Not gloating this time, but the weight cut definitely effected him somewhat. He's a huge Welter.

[EX7EY]

I think if there is serious damage to that left eye then brook needs to call it a day.

In hindsight now, I think the GGG fight was the wrong move career wise. Financially I'm sure he got a pay day but moving up two weight divisions, plus sustaining the eye injury has done him. Having to come back down to 147, whilst recovering from serious surgery is not good preparation for a  dangerous mandatory like spence.

Career wise, he should have tried to have two decent defences and then moved up. His legacy now is basically the porter win followed by three soft defences, a loss to GGG and a loss to his only decent mandatory.

I like brook, I've been critical in the past but he showed balls fighting GGG and he showed heart coming back to 147 to defend when everybody else wanted him to vacate. Just wish his career had panned out a bit differently.

If he fights on he needs a top drawer win or he'll be remembered in the average champ bracket for me.

[The Beast]

I'm being serious with the eye stuff. I was advised never to fight, or spar again. The risk of going blind is certainly there after orbital fractures.

Do you guys remember the eye Manny left Margarito? I think that Same bad eye was a cause of Cotto getting his revenge.

Brook isn't a quitter. The eye is in bad shape and maybe he should call it a day.

Not gloating this time, but the weight cut definitely effected him somewhat. He's a huge Welter.

The part that brought that home for me is when you commented on still having issues at certain angles. Sounds like you had good advice and I hope it does not affect you too much.

[AdamT]

I haven't done kickboxing in a decade. Done mma sparring, but never had much damage to the eye.

The consultant advised me never to fight again and be careful with contact sports. I wasn't making money and had no special talent, so joined a gym and started lifting.

I do miss sparring. Even though I'm a competitive person, I hated fighting. Or at least the couple days before.

No matter what I say on here, I respect any man from low amateur, to top pro that enters a ring/cage. Takes guts and character.

[Jermaine2015]

Kell Brook shown up as the overrated nobody he truly is. Weakest welterweight title holder in recent memory. His much vaunted power never shows up against the top guys. All good and well KOing bums like Bizier and Dan. Brook should retire. If he fights Khan he should accept the 30/70 split as that's all he's worth. If he goes up to 154 he'll get KO'd again.

[Happytravelling]

Again, looking at the comments, I'm wondering which fights others were watching.

For me, brook looked on top the first half of the fight. Looked like he could pull away but in the crucial round, 7th I think, chose or had to coast. To be fair, that round came out firing but brook fought it badly.

After that, he gassed and used his eye as an excuse.

But those saying Spence body shots took their toll. Really? He was accurate and had a great engine bit I didn't see any tactic to target the body. Indeed, his lack of tactics was a bit worrying, till his work (and kell fading) took its toll.

I really didn't see anything more about Spence I didn't already know. Hard puncher, with both fists but not concussive, and great engine. Still struggling to see what is special. Very good, all round fundamentals but nothing exceptional.

Kell failed to capitalise when he was in top, then bottled it tonight and should be embarrassed.

He'll blame weight etc but really he lost a fight he should have won. Not sure where he goes if he bottles a fight in front of his home crowd.

[3fingers]

Losing weight may, or may not, have effected brook; people are talking as though he has a proven 12 round engine?

Anyway, haven't been around in while...

Hammer is still a sad little fackwit who gains relevance through being contrary.

Owen... "not impressed by Spence".. should still follow a different sport. Clueless.

Adam T, eye injury!!??
Aren't you the same person who introduced himself to the board as someone who knew nothing about boxing, had never done it,though enjoyed watching!??

Well, it's good to see lifes winners are still frequenting the board more than what would be considered a healthy.

Good fight.

[melv500]

Spence beats Thurman for me too but I don't quite think he's the new Mayweather as billed.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Fingers has popped on after a drink again I see.

[owen10ozzy]

Ah good to see fingers back....to add a paragraph of his thoughts..only 2 lines on actual boxing..that will be why no one has missed you.

[AdamT]

I didn't say I knew nothing of boxing. I had an orbital fracture in February 2007. It was through kickboxing, not boxing. I have never boxed, but I have done kickboxing and a lot of mma sparring.

[AdamT]

Even though you had a dig at me, Fully agree with one part of your comment 3fingers.

[mobilemaster8]

Not sure what your watching Happy.....had Spence ahead me......very very close fight but after 6 had him maybe 1 up or 2. The later it went, the effect of the body work and pace in which Spence fought took its toll on Kell. He didn't bottle it. He couldn't see. He had been out punched and put fought by a strong undefeated champion. Absolutely no Shame in that's.

You say you don't see anything special in Spence....his last three fights have been fantastic performances.

Absolutely smashed Algieri...something Pacquiao and Khan couldn't do......

Smashed Bundu....something hardly anyone does

Then travels to the UK infront if a sell out against a champion who's sole loss was GGG...and battered him into submission and walks away with nearly no marks on him.

But yeh, don't see the hype.

Very strange.

[ONETWOFOREVER]

So brooks championship record reads jojo dan frankie gavin and pazion HOF anyone?

[88Chris05]

Decent fight and solid performance by Spence.

Disappointed for Brook, but last night showed why I've long been in the minority that felt that Khan would beat him. Mid range counter-punching is difficult to pull off if the other guy is a shade quicker than you, and as others have said Brook had no inside game to make up for that. I've also never been as convinced as others that his punching power is anything more than serviceable in the grand scheme of things. Felt he looked a little flummoxed early on last night when these tactics weren't working.

Brook had his best rounds between four and seven when he switched it up a bit and became more aggressive, initiating more exchanges first and throwing with hurtful intention a little more often. It's not his natural style but he did make a real go of it and gave Spence some stuff to think about.

As others have said, though, while Brook grew in to the fight during these stages I felt that Spence was the one who looked as if he had another gear he might be able to slip in to if needed, and who looked the better all-round package. Was impressed with the cutting edge and instinct he showed once he saw Brook flagging and the eye deteriorating.

Spence looked the part once he had Brook softened up and it's fair to say he's definitely proven he's a very good fighter in the wake of his wins (more importantly in the first couple of cases, the manner of the wins) against Algieri, Bundu and now Brook. Still room for improvement though. He lunges in with flat feet now and then and could work on his combination punching and inside game, same as Brook. But he's a considerable talent and it'll be interesting to see if he can unify 147.

My gut feeling is that Brook will fight again despite the severity of his recent injuries, but the setbacks of recent years seem all the more frustrating now in light of last night, because it appears there's a good chance he'll end up with a record which really doesn't do his talent and abilities justice. Easy to say the Golovkin fight was a mistake in retrospect and blame that for last night, but I'm not so sure. The stagnation under Warren, inconsistent performances, occasional lack of dedication, numerous postponements, poor choice of opponents and the unfortunate stabbing incident really cost Brook between, say, 2009 and 2015 and it's those years he might end up looking back on with regret. The eye test shows he's a much better fighter than a host of other Brits whose records he may not even end up matching.

[Valero's Conscience]

I saw the fight in a bar with no sound - not ideal as you don't properly watch and miss bits. Also, the TV went on standby and missed the 7th round!

From what i saw the first 6 rounds looked close barring the 3rd clear for Spence but had Brook winning most then Spence took over.

For Brook to sustain a serious injury to both eyes in consecutive fights is not good for his career.

Will watch again this week properly.

Would still like to see Brook vs Khan perhaps early next year as a swan song and final big pay day for both.

[Guest]

Is the demand for Khan/Brook really still there? Not overly bothered at all. Khan has limited power, so is an attractive option for Kell, as he really needs to avoid serious eye damage again. If I was Brook, I'd retire. Found his level, but he'll probably step up to light middleweight now.

[Happytravelling]

Yes, but MM8 you're the person who believes boxing is synchronized swimming and should be scored on quality and if the look like they can 'box'. As your earlier comments attest.

By the 6th brook seemed to be getting in top. He'd stunned Spence a couple of times and was starting to push him back.

It seems the eye unsettled brook. It got fractured in the 7th. But up till then, it looked like he was on the ascendancy and would finish Spence.

Total credit to Spence for the engine and being able to come back. Think brook still threw the fight but he's not the first.

I'll say it again, Spence looked very good. All round a very good skill set but not the Second coming.

I assume there was a rematch clause, if brook wanted it?

[TheSquaredCircle]

Class performance for Spence last night. The public workout hinted somewhat to his body punching prowess and I think these took something away from Brook. As a brook fan I am gutted. Despite what we say about his eyes, he will fight again. I would rather see a tune up (Lamont etc) then see him fight khan next. Maybe build that fight up again after a couple of wins?

[BoxingFan88]

Very good fight and good performance from Spence

He got hit with a lot, took his lumps and came back time and time again, he had it left in him to finish strong and Brook didn't after the punishing first 6

Spence did it the hard way, he went to the champs back yard and ripped the title away in impressive fashion

I think Spence is number 1 and 147, even if he hasn't earned that title quite yet

Pacquiao is too old and small, although I would like to see someone try and walk him down and see how that ends, I would bet Spence would fight him from a distance and wear him down gradually. Would fancy Manny against the other guys, but not Spence

Spence should be too much for Thurman as well, who I'm still not convinced by after I thought he lost to Porter

I'm not sure what is next for Brook, he could move to 154, but two broken eye sockets isn't great for a job where you get punched in the face, he should never have fought GGG it was an absolutely stupid move

Over the moon for Groves, yes it was a vacant title, but its a title and he won it in style in the end

[AdamT]

Good post boxing fan.

Manny is a bit past it. Though he is levels above Brook. Not convinced Spence could beat him.

Would back Spence to beat the rest

[Jermaine2015]

In hindsight Brook probably rushed his career. I mean beating no hopers for 10 years and padding up his record. Probably needed another 15-20 fights in countless eliminators. His power is so overrated. Only three top level fighters he fought(Porter, GGG and Spence) his much proclaimed power was nowhere to be seen. Brook is a flat footed plodder. Nothing more. If he goes up to light middleweight, Lara and Andrade tear him a new one. Only fighter he'd has marginal chance against is Cotto, but why would Cotto face a nobody like Brook o during his farewell tour?

[AdamT]

He barley has one good name on his record. Even Khan has a better resume.

[Jermaine2015]

He barley has one good name on his record. Even Khan has a better resume.

+ 1

[Herman Jaeger]

Takes a lot of guts just to even get back in the ring after a bust eye socket but if he's broke the other one then providing he's got enough money which I think he has really think he should pack it in now. Terrible to break two sockets really bad luck

[Guest]

So he broke both right and left eye sockets in successive fights. That must mean he is not built for boxing at the elite level - there must be something about his face that causes his eye sockets to be vulnerable. Either he has a weak bone structure around his eye or his eye socket bone somehow projects out more than usual. It seems strange? Maybe those with greater expertise in boxing know about these issues. Presumably it happens a lot to lesser ranked boxers (?).

[hazharrison]

I imagine the first injury impacted on the second. The Golovkin cash grab was such a poor piece of management. Yes, he made a lot of money, however, his career has undoubtedly suffered as a result.

[Herman Jaeger]

People say he could have made more money from a Pacquaio fight but maybe Spence always beats him so he wouldn't have got to Manny? Eddy never planned it but it was a freak opportunity that came out of nowhere

A terrible gamble from a career standpoint(Golovkin definitely wrecked his face and Brook had come nowhere near to proving he was the best 47ner in the world thus being qualified to take that fight) but he IS set up for life financially from that fight so what can you say? Eddie merely offered him the fight it was the Brook team's decision

Brook can still take another cash grab with light punching Khan too but he leaves no legacy

Beat Thurman and Porter and he might but you wouldn't want to be going in with those two with two broken sockets. You wouldn't want to be going in with Lucas or Danny either. If Danny got one of his left hooks off that wouldn't be funny

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