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.
The early rounds were close and competitive with Brook holding the upper hand. But Spence attacked the body from the southpaw position with accuracy. Jabs, counter lefts and body shots inflicted damage on Brook, who from the seventh on started having issues with his badly swollen left eye.
Spence dropped Brook in the 10th and Brook took a knee in the 11th from the accumulation of damage. Brook was counted out and referee Howard Foster waved the fight off.
In the final three rounds Spence out-landed Brook 92-27 overall and 72-25 power.
“I came out and I tried to do my best tonight. I’m happy I won but I’m critical of my performance,” Spence said. “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 hometown 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 realized I had to step up my game and I did.”
When the 27-year-old Texan was asked about his plans for the future, he answered without hesitation, “Now is man down, start of season two. I want to unify divisions. I want all the champions. I want [Keith] Thurman, Manny Pacquiao. I want to fight the best, just like true champions do.”
