Brook fight is 50-50, warns Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard, one of the greats of the Eighties, believes Kell Brook must be at his finest on Saturday night when he defends the International Boxing Federation welterweight crown against highlyrated rising US star Errol Spence.
Leonard regards the welterweight showdown at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, as a 50/50 fight.
“I feel it will be based upon who has prepared themselves the best and who sticks to their game plan,” said Leonard
Leonard, 61, raised the fact that Spence, unbeaten in 21 contests, had never been beyond eight rounds. “That being the case, Kell Brook should just walk through him and dominate him. This is when the mobility of Spence comes into play. This is when the game plan, the strategy, all comes into play. Spence is not an easy walk.
“They will both be prepared to go the distance. With that being said, it’s really on Errol Spence. Mentally and psychologically, can he go the distance? He’ll be in tremendous shape, but his mind has to say, yes we can.”
Leonard claimed that the orbitalsocket fracture sustained by Brook against Gennady Golovkin eight months ago would be of no concern. The American suffered eye damage during his own career – a detached retina – and insisted Brook would have recovered mentally from the injury.
He said: “There are parallels here because when I suffered my detached retina, people, rightly so, were totally against me coming back because they thought about me going into that ring against Marvin Hagler with my eye. But that was the furthest thing from my mind. If it hadn’t been, I couldn’t have pulled off what I did. I apply the same thing with Kell.”
Leonard added that Brook’s stock would rise again in the US if he beat the American.
“If Kell can quash the Spence dream, he will be more than a guy fight fans will want to see again. This fight here will rejuvenate his career.”
Sky Sports Box Office will show Brook v Spence Jnr and Groves v Chudinov exclusively live