Brook vs Spence Jr: What is the value of being unbeaten?
"All of a sudden there was something I needed to even out, and people wanted to see me try."
Tuesday 23 May 2017 16:44, UK
Undefeated and undisputed - for all except the elite minority it remains a pipe dream. Yet a new generation, with Kell Brook at its forefront, have been risking their perfect records like never before. So what's the value of being unbeaten?
It is the most precious commodity in boxing. An undefeated record is difficult to obtain but can be even harder to justify. For the precious few who reach the fight game's pinnacle without losing, their resume's can be subject to more scorn than those who have stumbled but regained their footing.
The price of protecting the zero on your record is now being questioned with a series of world class fighters gambling their perfection like never before, intoxicated by the cloud of excitement that has engulfed boxing over the past year or so. Chief among the high-stakes risk-takers is Kell Brook, who embodies the ethos of embracing danger and emerging stronger despite defeat.
He is hardly alone. Carl Frampton, Sergey Kovalev and Danny Garcia all lost their unbeaten records since the turn of the year but, like Brook since his defeat to Gennady Golovkin last September, they have all licked their wounds to find that their reputations remain as resolute as ever. Losing a fight, it seems, does not lose a fighter his career like it once did.
Boxers are being empowered to throw caution to the wind knowing that the worst case scenario, the loss of their perfect record, will not throw their careers into irretrievable jeopardy. Frampton, Kovalev and Garcia were each on the wrong end of decision defeats to fellow undefeated fighters of a world championship calibre yet appetite to see them compete again is still insatiable.
Nobody claims that Frampton, Kovalev or Garcia have been exposed, and many believe they might have won the fights that were ultimately scored against them. Kovalev is set to rematch Andre Ward, Frampton had previously beaten his conqueror Leo Santa Cruz and Garcia is still in the world welterweight title picture so the pain of defeat was worth the risk. Like Brook after his middleweight adventure to challenge Golovkin, there is a way to lose that reaps benefits for everybody concerned - not least, those of us on the edge of our seats.
For all the negatives that came from it, they all turned into positives. I took nothing bad from that fight. It is one big positive.
"I sent out the blueprint to show that I am worth being at that level," said Brook, who was stopped on his feet in the fifth round against Golovkin when the towel was thrown in. "For all the negatives that came from it, they all turned into positives. I took nothing bad from that fight. It is one big positive."
Remaining upright throughout against boxing's most vicious puncher earned Brook the sort of kudos that is often unattainable in victory. "They call me Terminator now because I've got metal in my head," he smiled wryly about his recovery from the broken eye socket that Golovkin dished out.
Golovkin, still unbeaten in 37, will next meet Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in one of boxing's biggest possible occasions. It hardly matters that 'Canelo' has an imperfect record, owing to a 2013 loss to Floyd Mayweather because the cinnamon-haired Mexican still boasts a staggering fan-base and his career trajectory is only going upwards.
Also consider pound-for-pound supremo Vasyl Lomachenko; his remarkable skill-set is not frowned upon despite losing his second professional bout because it was a world title opportunity that arrived long before it might have been due. Lomachenko, since losing his zero, has won world titles in two divisions after a total of just nine fights. The message is clear - take risks, gamble and bet on yourself to recover if it goes wrong.
Boxing's current stars are embracing this mentality but it wasn't borne in their era. Ricky Hatton's grandest night, riding a 43-fight unbeaten run against Mayweather in Vegas with thousands of travelling Brits in his corner, turned into disaster but his career and popularity never suffered. Carl Froch also understands the oddity of a career gaining momentum after a first defeat. His 26-fight winning run was ended by Mikkel Kessler seven years ago but spawned the chance for him to eventually headline at Wembley Stadium with George Groves.
"My stock rose without a doubt," Froch exclusively told Sky Sports. "I got a lot of credit for going out there and, while it wasn't a Box Office fight, it set up the rematch down the line. It not only gave me something I wanted but it turned out everybody else wanted to see it.
"I am not saying Kell Brook should go for a rematch with Gennady Golovkin but, if I hadn't got one with Kessler, I am not sure I would've got what happened after it.
All of a sudden there was something I needed to even out, and people wanted to see me try.
"Losing to Kessler put me right up there. I was late in to Copenhagen due to the ash cloud, the fight was close, it could have gone either way. If it was in Nottingham or anywhere in the UK, I would've probably got it, but they barely gave me a round out there!
"Obviously it annoyed me. But all of a sudden there was something I needed to even out, and people wanted to see me try."
Perhaps it is part of boxing's unique allure that we love imperfect idols who overcome adversity. Is it a coincidence that Mayweather and Ward, with no defeats between them, struggle to resonate like those who have experienced the bump of a rollercoaster?
Ward (31-0) and Golovkin (37-0) will be the next to prioritise potential greatness over preservation of their perfect records, fighting Kovalev and 'Canelo' respectively. We can expect the trend to continue, and should welcome it.
And so, onto Errol Spence Jr; who will challenge for Brook's IBF welterweight championship this weekend at Bramall Lane, live on Sky Sports Box Office. An American prospect with all the tools to take Brook's belt, he is unbeaten in 21 but, should he stumble in Sheffield, he can take solace from the lessons of previous unbeaten risk-takers.
It is a mentality which means we are all winners.
Watch Brook vs Spence Jr, from Bramall Lane, Sheffield, May 27, live on Sky Sports Box Office. Book the event online here or via your Sky remote.
