By Scott Gilfoid: Kell Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn was up in arms today about boxing fans taking shots at Brook (32-0, 22 KOs). Fans obviously have been taking shots at Brook left and right about how he twice pulled out of fights against former IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander until the fight was no longer offered to him. Fans also have been on Brook’s case for him having fought largely less than dangerous opposition during his 10-year pro career.
Brook has a target on him right now until he proves himself against IBF 147 pound champion Shawn Porter (24-0-1, 15 KOs) in their fight on August 16th at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
“1 thing that grates me…Kell out there worked his whole life for this moment getting stick from some geezer eating a pizza stuck to the sofa,” Hearn said on his twitter. “And for all those that want to have a dig at him, how about getting behind one of Britain’s top fighters on this massive night in America? [I] can’t sleep now, thinking about Brook v Porter. This is it; it’s Kell’s time to shine! And the new.”
Oh boy, Hearn sounds like he’s blown a rod over this. Instead of Hearn getting mad at fans for not talking nice about Brook, he should look at it as a sign that his fighter doesn’t have a good chance of winning this fight. When you have fans that are dog-piling on a fighter as much as they are Brook, it tells you that they see some major flaws that Hearn doesn’t see in him.
Hearn needs to settle down.
The suspense seems to be driving him mad with him thinking about the potential of Brook beating Porter. It’s like this: if Porter beats Brook, then Hearn is stuck with a fighter with a future outlook of him being a domestic level guy. The best that Brook could hope for then is maybe fights against the likes of Frankie Gavin and Lee Purdy. But if Brook beats Porter, then Hearn has future options of maybe matching Brook against Amir Khan, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao, and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. I mean, I can’t see Brook getting any of those fights, but the potential for one or more of those fights would be there.
The thing is if Hearn can set up even one of those fights, it would mean big cash for Brook and Matchroom Sport. In theory, Brook could be the replacement for Carl Froch as Hearn’s money fighter. Froch isn’t going to last forever as we all know, and I can’t see him lasing more than a year before he goes off into the sunset, leaving Hearn temporarily without a big money guy. If Brook could beat Porter, then he would have the potential Hearn’s new gravy train fighter.
I hate to be the one to rain on Hearn’s parade, but I really can’t see Brook getting past Porter. In fact, I see this fight as being basically a slaughter along the same lines as Porter vs. Paulie Malignaggi, possibly even worse. At least Malignaggi had a heck of a lot of experience going for him when he fought Porter. That’s probably why he was able to make it 4 rounds. With Brook, he’s been feasting on the 3rd tier guys that Hearn has been feeding himself he took over as his promoter, and there’s nothing but fluff to his record.
There’s no one useful on Brook’s resume that can help deal with what he’s going to be experiencing when he gets inside the ring with Porter on August 16th. We’re talking a straight up mismatch with Brook getting a royal beating in this fight from start until the bitter finish, which I suspect will be over in 3 rounds or less.
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