Special night for Kell Brook
Published:
Boxing betting from Bramall Lane
Kell Brook returns to the ring tonight when defending his IBF world welterweight title against unbeaten American wonderkid Errol Spence Jr. Bramall Lane provides the setting for an open-air show that is sure to delight boxing enthusiasts and casual fans alike.
Brook, making his first outing since being brutally stopped by Gennady Golovkin last summer up at middleweight, has been written off by our odds compilers, but there’s plenty in the know who believe there’s an upset on the cards.
Click here to back the winner of Brook – Spence, or read on as we take a look at the betting in the night’s major fights…..
Brook to raise his game
Traders appear to have been rather harsh on Kell Brook here. There’s no doubt opponent Errol Spence Jr is a real talent, and jets in with a perfect 21-fight record, but we can’t get carried away with that. The Truth earned his shot at a world title with a win over Leonard Bundu, stopping the Italian in six rounds. That stretched Spence’s recent record to eight stoppage wins on the bounce. The Bundu win came back in August however, and he’s not been seen since, which doesn’t make great reading for a prospect.
This will be, without doubt, the biggest night of Kell Brook’s career so far. Defending his world title on a massive show in front of his own fans, and all with a point to prove. The move up two weight divisions to face the most devastating fighter in history was a gamble. It blew-up in his face, granted, but changes nothing here. Special K is unbeaten at welter, and looked to have no trouble making the 147lbs limit, which was a bit of a concern for fans in the run up. At the public weigh in on Friday he looked in fantastic shape, and I’m happy to take a shot. Kell is a talented fighter, but we’ll see him raise his game for this one.
Coral’s 17/10 on a home win looks massive, and is well worth an interest. Sure to attract plenty of patriotic punts as the first bell approaches, but on talent alone Kell more than holds his own. Those looking to push their luck a bit and call the method of victory will get 3/1 with us on the local favourite to win over the scoring judges.
Groves will call on experience
Chief support comes in the form of George Groves who faces hard-hitting Fedor Chudinov for the WBA super middleweight world title. Many have this as St George’s last crack at the big time, and it certainly looks that way, with the Englishman losing three of his last nine.
Those defeats came at the fists of Carl Froch x2 and a split decision to Badou Jack in 20015. That last reverse was agonisingly close, and could easily have gone the other way, but Groves dusted himself off to win each of his four comeback bouts. Andrea Di Luisa was cut down in five before Scotsman David Brophy’s challenge ended in four. The 29-year-old stepped it up a gear when beating Martin Murray in a real crossroads fight at the O2 last summer, winning the WBA International, and followed that with another points cheer vs Eduard Gutknecht.
Groves has been marked up as hot favourite against Fedor Chudinov, 1/5 the price available at the time of writing, but the value looks to be in taking him to do the business on points. Chudinov will plan to bring his power into play and get Groves out of there, but the favourite’s experience will be the difference and I expect him to steer clear of the danger and win on the cards at 8/11 with Coral.
