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| Photo: Sky Sports |
By Peter Silkov
It
was a night of conflicting fortunes for two of Britain’s leading
boxers at Sheffield’s Bramall Lane Outdoor Football Ground last
night, June 27, 2017. While on his 4th
attempt, George Groves (26-3, 19koes) finally fulfilled his dream of
becoming a world champion. Unfortunately, Kell ‘The Special One’
Brook (36-2, 25koes) was deprived of his World welterweight title by
Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr (22-0, 19koesl) Today George Groves
is looking forward to a wealth of possibilities, with a number of big
money title defences ahead of him, on the opposite side however, Kell
Brook is faced with an uncertain future in the sport.
Brook
and Spence proved to be very well matched in their fight for Brook’s
IBF world welterweight title, and the action, if a little messy at
times, was tense and lively after a cagey first round. For the first
six rounds Brook seemed to hold the edge, with his movement and
strength giving Spence problems. The challenger showed glimpses of
his speed and power, but at other times also seemed to show his
relative inexperience at this level, compared with Brook. However the
match began to turn sharply in Spence’s favour in the 6th,
when Brooks left eye began to swell. Soon the eye was swollen
grotesquely, and having suffered an orbital fracture in his other eye
in his last contest (against Gennady Golovkin) it was clear that this
latest injury was bothering Brook, both physically, and mentally.
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| Photo: Reuters |
Spence
now took control of the fight and doubled his attacks upon a now
often retreating Brook. Yet Brook would not fold easily, he kept
fighting back, just when it looked as though Spence was going to
overwhelm him. However, the writing was on the wall by the 10th
round when Spence floored Brook with a body shot, an area that the
American had targeted from the beginning of the contest. Brook
Survived the 10th, but was finding it visibly difficult to defend
himself with his injured eye.
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| Photo: Sky Sports |
In
the 11th
round, with the challenger putting him under heavy pressure, and
constantly landing right hands upon Brooks damaged eye, Brook went
down onto one knee after a flurry of shots, and took the referee’s
full count, while he blinked and rubbed at his damaged left eye.
Errol
Spence is already being hailed as America’s new star performer, but
while his talent is not in question, he still has some way to go
before he can be labelled as truly ‘special’ at world class
level, especially in such a talent-laden division. Hopefully the fans
will get a chance to see Spence meet the other big names in the 147
division, if so, then boxing really could see itself on a solid
upswing.
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| Photo: The Sun |
Defeat
for Brook will be a bitter pill to take, especially in front of
27,000 spectators, made up largely of his home town fans. Whether he
would have prevailed if his left eye had not gone in the 7th,
is open to debate. Certainly before the injury, Brook seemed to be
comfortable. Now, for Brook, the worry is whether he can come back
from what has now been confirmed as another eye socket fracture, just
as he suffered in his right eye in his previous fight against Gennady
Golovkin. Such injuries are always serious for a boxer, and to suffer
one to each eye must leave question marks against Brook's future in
boxing. As might be sadly expected, there have been some criticisms
for Brook ‘quitting’ in the fight, but surely a fighter has the
right to decide that he has had enough when he suspects that his
eyesight might be in danger. Brook’s decision to drop to his knee
when he did, and take the full count, might well have saved him from
further injury so that he can fight again. More importantly, it might
have saved his eyesight for the rest of his life, long after his
boxing career is done.
After
the fight, Brook was clear about what had happened to him:
‘"I
remember the surgeon saying last time after the Golovkin fight I
could have gone blind if I'd had one more round so I had that in my
mind.
"I
had to stop. Pride was leading the way but when I got caught in the
11th and it wouldn't come back into line. He was coming on strong and
I knew he is a very sharp shooter, a very good fighter and I knew it
could be fatal with some of the shots he was chucking in so I went
down on one knee.’
"I
tried to get the eye back in line, but it wouldn't, and I knew the
fight was over."
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| Photo: The Telegraph |
Spence
was happy with his victory, yet refreshingly critical of his own
performance:
“I
came out and I tried to do my best tonight. I’m happy I won, but
I’m critical of my performance. I was overshooting my left. I give
myself a B minus. I had a little trouble overusing my counter left.
‘Brook
is a great fighter, a true champion, but also a tricky fighter. He
finds you from tricky angles, and he can fight.’
“I
came here to his back yard in front of 30,000. That’s what real
champions do. I fought a real champion tonight and I proved
non-believers that I can fight. I’ve proven I have a chin and I
have true grit.
“This
fight was tougher than I thought it was going to be. I showed I can
take a punch and I can throw a punch. I can face adversity and I can
win.
“Brook
went to America to take the title from an American, like a true
champion. I came here to his home town to get that title back from
him. I wanted to win like true champion, and I did because that is
what champions do.
“He
was hurt. He was tired. He came firing shots, I came firing shots.
But there was a moment I realised I had to step up my game and I
did.”
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| Photo: CBS Sports |
Spence
will now look towards what could be some huge fights at 147 pounds,
with the likes of Keith Thurman, Shaun Porter, and Danny Garcia, and
even Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford.
For
Brook, the future is much less clear, and looks to be at 154 pounds,
if he does fight again. Which is no certainty after the injury he has
suffered.
While
the fickle hand of fate seemed to have abandoned Kell Brook last
night, earlier on the bill, George Groves finally made the break
through that he has been striving for all his career, when he won the
vacant WBA world super-middleweight championship after a bruising
encounter with Russian iron man, Fedor Chudinov (14-2, 10koes).
Anyone
who has followed Groves' career will attest to the fact that fortune
has never seemed to smile upon him during his career. Despite the
fact that he has done things the hard way during his career, by
facing top quality opposition and scoring notable wins over top
fighters, George has always been out of luck when fighting for a
world title. In his previous three attempts to capture and world
championship, Groves has been beaten twice by Carl Froch in two epic
bouts, and then narrowly out-pointed by Badou Jack, after seemingly
doing more than enough to take victory.
In
his last fight Groves' career has been struck by tragedy, after
opponent, Eduard Gutknecht, suffered severe injuries in losing on
points to Groves, and is still struggling to recover.
Last
night though, it finally all came together for Groves against
Chudinov.
The
match started at a fast pace, with both men landing some brutal
punches from the start. Groves had entered the ring visibly keyed up.
This was a fight he had said that he couldn’t afford to lose.
Perhaps a last chance at winning a world title. This tension seemed
to carry on into the fight, as Groves started the match fast,
fighting perhaps a little too much with his heart, rather than his
head. Chudinov was constantly coming forwards, with hands high,
looking to drag Groves into a brawl. Over the first two rounds Groves
was landing more punches, but finding himself constantly pushed onto
the ropes by his tank-like opponent. By the 3rd
round, the fight had developed into a toe-to--toe slugfest, with both
men looking to break the other man down.
Groves
better variety of punches helped him edge the 4th
round, but by now, he was cut over the left eye. For the first half
of the 5th
Groves showed some signs of tiredness, and the old questions about
his stamina started to resurface. Yet Groves finished the round
strong, underlying his determination to win this fight.
In
the 6th
round Groves stepped up several gears, unleashing a prolonged attack
of brutal punches upon Chudinov. Although the Russian didn’t go
down, he failed to punch back for a prolonged period of time, and
took several tremendous punches to the head and chin, until the
referee had no choice but to step in and halt the fight.
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| Photo: Reuters |
George
Groves had finally done it and won a world championship. Despite the
proliferation of world titles in boxing today, winning one is still
an achievement, and few fighters today deserve it more than George
Groves, who has proved his world class credentials repeatedly for
more than half a decade. Now finally he can call himself a world
champion and look towards some big fights.
Following
his victory, it was an emotional Groves who declared:
“I’ve
got no words,” Groves said filled of joy. “It’s a lifetime’s
work achieved. I’m over the moon. I want to thank everyone who made
this happen, Shane McGuigan who has resurrected my career, and now
I’m mature enough to admit that he brings the best out of me. In
the end, I would have carried on punching until everyone had left and
they kicked me out. I wasn’t going to let this belt slip.
[Chudinov] was catching me around the back of the head from the
start, he has really devastatingly long arms, but I found my feet.”
When
asked what he would like to do next, Groves replied:
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| Photo: Getty Images |
“Who
wants to fight me? I’m sick and tired of chasing people. I’m sure
there’s people that want to have a crack at me now. I’m really
looking forward to seeing Callum Smith win a WBC belt, truly believe
he’s going to do that. Maybe Paul Smith will pick up a world title,
maybe me and him can do it again but right now I’m going to savour
my win and spend quality time with my family, and celebrate with my
wonderful team.”
Groves
victory was very popular with the crowd, and one of those cheering
the loudest, and standing on his feet, was Groves' old foe, Carl
Froch.
There
are a number of possible options open to Groves for future opponents,
but perhaps the most tantalizing fight would be a rematch with his
old rival James Degale, whom he beat in 2011, and who now holds the
IBF world super-middleweight title. Their first fight, for the
British and Commonwealth titles, was huge, and this time, with world
titles at stake, it would be even bigger.
