BoxRec

IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn says IBF mandatory challenger Errol Spence’s manager Al Haymon failed to accept an offer he made to him for a Brook-Spence fight. Hearn says he believes that Haymon wants the fight to go to the purse bid on February 7 so that he can win that bid.

Brook would get a 75/25 purse split if it goes to a purse bid. I don’t think Spence cares that he’ll get the smaller money. He just wants to beat Brook and take his IBF title so that he can use the belt for unification fights. Brook is just someone standing in Spence’s way. Spence is seen as the future of the welterweight division.

The purse bid is on February 7. There’s still a week that Brook could vacate if he wants to duck the Spence fight. Hopefully, Brook takes the fight so that the boxing fans can see a good match-up. Spence says he prefers to beat Brook for the IBF title rather than him winning the belt outside of the ring.

“He has a purse bid with Errol Spence next Tuesday,” Hearn said to RingTV.com. “Hopefully, Mr. Haymon can dig nice and deep, which he’ll have to do to beat us on that one. But we’ve made Errol Spence an offer and they didn’t come back to us, so I presume they just want to go to a purse bid.”

Its hard to tell if Hearn is telling the truth or not about making an offer to Spence. He was caught lying last year saying Spence turned the fight down. If he is telling the truth, the offer must have been rock bottom, since Brook stands to get 75% of the purse from the purse bid.

If Haymon wants to win it then he will. Quite like this fight. Would like it over these shores if possible.

Hearn nor Brook have ever wanted this fight, and that belt will be dropped very soon. It's a smart move if he does, he doesn't want back to back losses. And that's what would happen.

What would hurt more?

Being stripped or vacating?

Brook can't win here either way

It all depends on the numbers.

Brook's best chance of making a lasting impact on the sport is this fight.

Both are super skilled. Spence has youthful exuberance and freshness on his side but lacks experience. Brook has the experience but maybe a little shop-worn now since the machete attack and the Golovkin mauling.

At the moment it's very evenly balanced but every day that passes turns it in favour of Spence who probably starts as favourite anyway.

This is one of the best fights out there. Feels a little like Leonard-Benitez...

My guess is that Brook vacates. But I hope I'm wrong.

Hopefully neither side is bluffing - have a suspicion that one side is bluffing but we shall soon learn the truth if one side is indeed playing chicken -

With a purse bid looming next Tuesday, Brook's promoter Eddie Hearn now shifts to negotiating with Spence (21-0, 18 KO’s). “It's a great fight,” Hearn told BS.com.

“It's a 75-25 split for Kell so I’d like to think we win the purse bid and get the fight in the UK which is a big advantage for Kell Brook.” There many out there who felt Brook would vacate the title and not fight Spence - because the risk might not be worth the reward at this point in Brook’s career.

But Hearn says Brook is focused on keeping his world title.

“I think Kell’s decision at the moment is to fight Errol Spence,” stated Hearn. “But we still have a week. I’ve made Errol Spence offers and they haven't come back to me, maybe the want to go to purse bids. If i was representing Errol Spence in a 75-25 purse bid and Errol Spence is the fighter they think he is, I wouldn't be sending Errol Spence to purse bid and the UK.”

Hearn also cautions the team which represents Spence - advising them that they should be careful what they wish for.

“You’re all saying it's a tough fight for Kell Brook but it's also a tough fight for Errol Spence. It's a great fight but it's not as big as it should be and that's my problem. My responsibility is to get a fighter in a fight where his reward equates it and that fight isn’t right now but Kell just wants to keep his belt,” Hearn said.

http://www.BS.com/brook-promot ... 28llw.dpuf

That fight would make much more money in UK than in the US.

boxing_rocks wrote:That fight would make much more money in UK than in the US.

No matter what Hearn thinks or says, it is not a PPV fight in the UK.

Brook would be smart to move to 154 unless he can get the khan fight. It isn't going to be a good look if he vacates for anything less than a big money fight or to move up. It also won't be good if he actually goes through with fighting spence, although he certainly would deserve respect for doing so.

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

boxing_rocks wrote:That fight would make much more money in UK than in the US.

No matter what Hearn thinks or says, it is not a PPV fight in the UK.

Whether its PPV worthy or not is irrelevant to Hearn/ Sky....I'm sure anyone Brook fights next will be on PPV. Kell has already stated numerous times big fights/ PPV is all he's interested in, Eddie loves PPV and will happily put on mediocre PPV cards. Kell could end up fighting someone far less exciting than Spence and it will still be PPV. The only way this isnt PPV is if they lose the purse bid and even then I think they'll do a PPV double header with crappy PPV card on UK time followed by 'Brook back in the USA' at 4am.

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

boxing_rocks wrote:That fight would make much more money in UK than in the US.

No matter what Hearn thinks or says, it is not a PPV fight in the UK.

The UK PPV model is different. If the main event is either a mismatch (i.e. Joshua-Molina) or where the foreigner is unknown to Brits, he puts out a fully-stacked fight card showcasing Matchroom's biggest stars, as they engage in entertaining but mismatch bouts.

This seems to be a successful PPV approach in the UK, Hearn explained this himself when interviewed by iFL TV.

Hearn could make this a PPV very easily, as the quality of the entire fight card can often generate more buys than the main event itself.

Stuarty30 wrote:If Haymon wants to win it then he will. Quite like this fight. Would like it over these shores if possible.

Al won't come close to winning it.