Brook schooled Porter, says Hearn

By Boxing News - 08/17/2014 - Comments

porter100By Scott Gilfoid: British promoter Eddie Hearn says he saw his fighter Kell Brook (33-0, 22 KOs) beating Shawn Porter (24-1-1, 15 KOs) by as many as 6 points last night in taking his IBF 147 pound strap at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Hearn feels that Brook totally schooled Porter, and he sees the win as being a life-changing event for Brook with him now getting big money fights against the likes of Amir Khan, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr and Juan Manuel Marquez.

Hearn must have grin on his face as wide as the Cheshire Cat today, because now he has a potential replacement for the aging Carl Froch as his next money fighter. Unfortunately, I don’t see Brook as being able to have that kind of staying power that Froch has had unless Hearn matches Brook carefully. Hearn was smart not to put Froch back in with Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell; so we may see Hearn match Brook in the same way by keeping him away from Porter in a rematch and keep him away from the talented Keith Thurman, who likely do a number on him no matter where the fight was staged.

It’s definitely true that Brook can get a fight against Marquez for his next fight if he wants it, but a fight against Khan, Pacquiao and Mayweather are a lot less likely.

Brook will need to win his next fight in November against whomever Hearn digs up for Brook to fight at the Sheffield Arena. You can pretty much assume that it’ll be either Frankie Gavin or Leonard Bundu. It’ll likely be a fighter ranked in the European level rankings rather than a true contender.

Hearn isn’t going to don to the domestic level, but he’s also not going to go up the true top tier of the welterweight division either. If you’re thinking Hearn will dare to match Brook against Keith Thurman, think again. It’s not happening. Brook will definitely be put back to the level he was at before his fight against Porter in terms of opposition. That’s the way I see it and I feel very confident that I’ll be right.

“I had him winning the fight comfortably,” Hearn said to IFL TV about Brook’s win over Porter. “It wasn’t pretty, but I thought he [Brook] boxed perfectly using the game plan. He kept at the distance, tied him up on the inside and I had him winning by 5 or 6 points. But you think ‘Please, please, don’t do this to us.’ [Dave] Parris comes out with 114-114, and I’m thinking ‘Oh man.’ People talk about traveling to America; I you’re good enough, you’ll win, and when you do, it’ll change your life.”

I’m not sure which fight Hearn was watching, but the one I saw was one by Porter. I didn’t give a fig who won the fight going in, but I just saw Brook holding like mad and basically doing this 10+ times per round. Why the referee didn’t take Brook aside and give him a hard warning, I have no idea. When you clinch as much as Brook did, you really need to lose points and that didn’t happen.

I saw Porter doing the landing and Brook doing the holding. Yeah, Brook landed an occasional shot, but Porter landed way more punches even while being held.

“Juan Manuel Marquez, Amir Khan, Floyd Mayweather Jr – that’s all they’re talking about in interviews,” Hearn said. “You’ve got to dream big. Don’t just sit on your [backside] and box in an arena in your backyard. You have to believe you can come over here and take the belt. Dream big. He’s [Brook] quality. He’s a different class. He schooled Porter in my opinion. It was almost like Andre Ward in tying him up on the inside and boxing. It was like perfect, and there’s so much more.”

What Brook was doing last night was nothing like what Ward does when he fights. There was no comparison at all. Ward actually fights on the inside, and that’s not what we saw from Brook last night. He was basically holding and waiting until the referee pulled him apart. Ward fights on the inside and looks to land shot punches. That’s what Porter was doing. There wasn’t schooling involved in the fight by Brook, but there was a lot holding and missing on Brook’s part.



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