R1- Crawford comes out scoring with the jab right away. Indongo is tentative for a while, but it unable to have any success due to lunging with all of his shots. Clearly trying to loading up a detrimental shot, Crawford stings Indongo with a counter left at one point and offsets a combo to the body late.
R11- They quickly go from trading jabs to trading combinations, and Spence is able to overwhelm Brook quickly. Brook lands a right that snaps back the head of Spence, but Spence goes on to bombard him with an array of 1-2’s and right hooks. The lefts when up close are hitting the previously broken eye socket of Brook, while the jabs and right hooks are hitting the newly broken left eye. This eye injury in particular clearly bothering Brook, as he is squinting and pawing at it, and even turns away when the ref seperates them from a clinch. Moments later, he takes a knee and gets counted out. Spence gestures after his last fight that he wanted the belt, and now he gets it, handing his Brook his second knockout loss in a row, and his very first loss at welterweight. This was a high-level back and forth battle between two top guys, and was overall one of the best bouts of 2017 in a match that lived up to its hype. Brook did super well in the first half and still had his moments in rounds that were bad for him, especially with his counterpunching. He showed the skills, power, and heart as to why he was champion at the time. Spence proved that he was made for world level as well. While this was a great victory for Spence overall, the eye injury (that GGG paved the way for) and the possibility that Brook was a bit drained upon jumping back down to 147 from 160 indicate that Brook was not at full capacity. Some say that Brook would have won with no asteriks, which is possible. However, seeing how the body attack of Spence slowed him down during the second half, I think he honestly would have hustled his way to a close decision. Spence showed a piston-jab, an excellent ability to apply pressure, elite stamina, and a sharp ability to counterpunch as well. While many including myself believe Brook could and should have retired upon this loss, he’d go on to record some more wins and get one more title shot before ultimately riding off into the sunset upon defeating career rival, Amir Khan. As for Spence, he’d do a great job holding this belt, succesfully unifying it twice, and is hopefully about to try to again for the undisputed crown.
R10- In what was a dominant round for Spence in the 9th, it only gets more one-sided from here. Spence is immediately on the prowl, putting power behind the jab, countering or getting under then in to land body shots whenever Brook tries to hold. Brook is clearly in survival mode here. A large flurry from Spence backs Brook into the ropes and causes him to drop to a knee. Bloodied, bruised, and broken, Brook gets up. The left eye is in hideous shape, such that I’m shocked that the ref, who had been doing a good job throughout never asked for the ringside doctor to check it out after the count. Brook certainly didn’t have to get up, but he’d show nothing but more heart and guts throughout. Firing back as often as he can, despite not much force or coordination (he threw himself off balance several times) being behind most of his shots, Brook tries to fight his way out of danger. However, nothing is able to keep off Spence, who is still assaulting him with power punches, including that shotgun jab to the head and body. Awesome round. Obviously a dominant round from Spence, but a great display of heart from Brook as well.
R9- When Brook is given a break to get tape repaired on his glove, the swelling above and below his left eye is revealed to be huge. Spence spends the round stalking, targeting the left eye with a power jab, and catching Brook several times with chopping lefts during attempts to clinch.
It was clear in this round that Brook was breaking down, especially when Spence chases him around the ring in the last 30 seconds, brutalizing his body.
R1- Crawford comes out scoring with the jab right away. Indongo is tentative for a while, but it unable to have any success due to lunging with all of his shots. Clearly trying to loading up a detrimental shot, Crawford stings Indongo with a counter left at one point and offsets a combo to the body late.
Round 3 close???
Done
Junlong Zhang vs Guillermo Casas
R11- They quickly go from trading jabs to trading combinations, and Spence is able to overwhelm Brook quickly. Brook lands a right that snaps back the head of Spence, but Spence goes on to bombard him with an array of 1-2’s and right hooks. The lefts when up close are hitting the previously broken eye socket of Brook, while the jabs and right hooks are hitting the newly broken left eye. This eye injury in particular clearly bothering Brook, as he is squinting and pawing at it, and even turns away when the ref seperates them from a clinch. Moments later, he takes a knee and gets counted out. Spence gestures after his last fight that he wanted the belt, and now he gets it, handing his Brook his second knockout loss in a row, and his very first loss at welterweight. This was a high-level back and forth battle between two top guys, and was overall one of the best bouts of 2017 in a match that lived up to its hype. Brook did super well in the first half and still had his moments in rounds that were bad for him, especially with his counterpunching. He showed the skills, power, and heart as to why he was champion at the time. Spence proved that he was made for world level as well. While this was a great victory for Spence overall, the eye injury (that GGG paved the way for) and the possibility that Brook was a bit drained upon jumping back down to 147 from 160 indicate that Brook was not at full capacity. Some say that Brook would have won with no asteriks, which is possible. However, seeing how the body attack of Spence slowed him down during the second half, I think he honestly would have hustled his way to a close decision. Spence showed a piston-jab, an excellent ability to apply pressure, elite stamina, and a sharp ability to counterpunch as well. While many including myself believe Brook could and should have retired upon this loss, he’d go on to record some more wins and get one more title shot before ultimately riding off into the sunset upon defeating career rival, Amir Khan. As for Spence, he’d do a great job holding this belt, succesfully unifying it twice, and is hopefully about to try to again for the undisputed crown.
R10- In what was a dominant round for Spence in the 9th, it only gets more one-sided from here. Spence is immediately on the prowl, putting power behind the jab, countering or getting under then in to land body shots whenever Brook tries to hold. Brook is clearly in survival mode here. A large flurry from Spence backs Brook into the ropes and causes him to drop to a knee. Bloodied, bruised, and broken, Brook gets up. The left eye is in hideous shape, such that I’m shocked that the ref, who had been doing a good job throughout never asked for the ringside doctor to check it out after the count. Brook certainly didn’t have to get up, but he’d show nothing but more heart and guts throughout. Firing back as often as he can, despite not much force or coordination (he threw himself off balance several times) being behind most of his shots, Brook tries to fight his way out of danger. However, nothing is able to keep off Spence, who is still assaulting him with power punches, including that shotgun jab to the head and body. Awesome round. Obviously a dominant round from Spence, but a great display of heart from Brook as well.
R9- When Brook is given a break to get tape repaired on his glove, the swelling above and below his left eye is revealed to be huge. Spence spends the round stalking, targeting the left eye with a power jab, and catching Brook several times with chopping lefts during attempts to clinch.
It was clear in this round that Brook was breaking down, especially when Spence chases him around the ring in the last 30 seconds, brutalizing his body.
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