Why Kell Brook has not fought top level opponents

By Benny James: British welterweight prospect Kell Brook has been getting a lot of stick recently for the level of opposition he has so far faced in his 8 year professional boxing career. I intend to explain why Kell has not yet fought top level fighters.

First things first, professional boxing is a financial sport, its not about world titles or glory any more, its about the prize. That is why they are called prizefighters, they fight for the money, they have families to feed and bills to pay just like everybody else.

Kell Brook has been a pro for 8 years but the story is not so black and white as you would imagine, he was signed by Frank Warren the promoter of Prince Naseem Hamed (product of the same gym as Brook), Frank signed Brook at the first opportunity but recognised that Brook was not yet ready to become a star, he was not mature enough to dedicate himself to his training. So he was brought along slowly, fighting low level opposition.

Then a few years later, just as Brook started to develop as a man and a fighter he was sidelined by Frank Warren who was focusing all his attention and resources into making Amir Khan a superstar in the UK. Brook was ignored and left to keep ticking along for a good few years until finally he got the break he deserved and won the British welterweight title and went on to win it outright in record time.

The problem now was Frank had a potentially world class fighter in Kell Brook, but no fan base, no popularity, no media attention to bring money to the fights. Who in their right mind would agree to fight a dangerous fighter like Kell Brook with little money on the table? Who would take that risk? The short answer is nobody with anything worth losing would take that risk.

Brook then started to get some more attention in the boxing press and became known in the UK among loyal boxing fans, but to the greater public he was nobody, he could not even sell out a big show in his home town of Sheffield.

He then had a disagreement with Frank Warren over a new contract and decided to sign with Matchroom sports instead.

Matchroom have spent the last year or so investing their cash into making Brook a star, getting him fights in Sheffield, building his media profile and even landed him a fight in America on the undercard of the super six final. The problem still exists that Brook cannot attract enough money to bring to the table to secure fights against top tier fighters, which is why his past 3 or 4 fights have been less than challenging.

Its now been announced that Kell Brook is to fight Matthew Hatton at the Sheffield motorpoint arena in March. Brook is easily the favourite and will most likely destroy Hatton. Certain people in the boxing community are criticizing the fight saying Brook needs to step up, what they fail to realise is that this fight is getting nationwide media attention in the UK, casual sports fans want to see this fight because Matthew Hatton is Ricky Hattons younger brother!

Kell now has the pull to sell out a big arena in his home town, if he wins this fight he should hopefully gain a nationwide following, bringing in more money and fans, which will allow his promoters to afford to get him in the ring with some top level fighters.

Then he can take the next step of winning a genuine world title which will put him on the global boxing radar, allowing him to gain fights with world class fighters across the globe.

Just remember the sport is all about money, if you cant bring it to the table then your not going to get decent opponents.

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