By Ciaran McKInney: It has been quite an interesting week in the world of boxing. On Saturday night, Kell Brook (33-0) took the IBF Welterweight strap with a majority decision over the heavily favored and much hyped Shawn Porter.
This was a mandatory defence for the Ohio native, however not too many people would have given ‘Special K’ more than a punchers chance. The phrase that had been bandied about in reference to Porter, was that he was a ‘smaller Mike Tyson’, this being due to his unorthodox style, small stature and brute force.
This was certainly the picture the majority seen after his brutal defeat of Paulie Malignaggi and his routine win over former champion Devon Alexander. ‘Showtime’ had been a rising star coming into the fight on Saturday, with some whispers that he may be in line to face Floyd Mayweather.
Enter Kell Brook. For what seems like an eternity, the man from Sheffield seemed to be in a perennial static state, through no fault of his own however, injuries to himself and former champion Alexander put paid to his chances of a shot at a World Title in 2013. He would take part in a series of stay busy fights as he waited for his opportunity to reappear, and barring a few banana-skin rounds against the recently retired Carson Jones, that course, however insufferable outside, ran smooth inside the ring. With an injury free camp under his belt, Brook finally had his chance. It was a long time coming, although he ranked in as a heavy outsider, there were a legion of fans led by his loyal promoter and staunch supporter, Eddie Hearn, who believed that it was his time.
So we get to Saturday night, the stage is set after Anthony Dirrell dethroned Sakio Bika in the co-main event (in a horrid affair). With both men in the ring, the bell sounded and the fight was on! In the first round, the champion came out like a train at Brook, his reputation of being a fast paced wrecking ball preceding him. Constant pressure gave the impression of a dominant round, but you may also put this down to a nervous start from the challenger, who looked rigid in his walk to the ring, and unsure of himself in the opening three minutes. As the fight wore on to the middle rounds, a pattern had begun to emerge. The pattern consisted of a massive workrate from Porter with little actually scoring success, which was matched by the jab and hold of Brook. The first 6 rounds could be interpreted in many ways, it was a case of what you prefer, aggression and output, or clinical shot picking.
Whilst the first rounds were open to interpretation, from the 7th round on, the picture became a whole lot clearer. The constant onslaught from Porter was still very much going, however it was clear that he had expended a size-able amount of energy which had not achieved the success he would have hoped for, it was a messy round but there was to be an explosive end, as with 20 seconds to go, Porter rushed in with his head low, and had it snapped back by a vicious uppercut from ‘Special K’, followed by a combination had the champion on the ropes, only to be relieved by the sound of the bell. From then on, a second pattern appeared. Porter had begun to tire at a rate of knots, which was further exacerbated by Kell Brooks strategy of holding on the inside to negate any potential barrage from ‘Showtime’. This was coupled with the jab of Brook, which came into its own in the latter rounds, the fight came to a conclusion without any real incident, but from the 6th round on, we seen one fighter gas out, and another make a name for himself on the world stage. The general consensus was that Brook had won the fight, however many doubted that he would get a decision in America. The last person to do that, was Lloyd Honeyghan!
In a majority decision (114-114, 117-112, 116-112) Kell Brook was crowned the new IBF Welterweight champion, an announcement which set off delirious celebrations in the ring. Porter was humble in defeat, and claimed he would look for the rematch (don’t count on it). Brook took his new status as World Champion in his stride when questioned, going as far to say when questioned about Amir Khan, ‘He can get in the queue’.
Just a couple of points to round up ‘The Summary’ for this week. Whether a Brook fan or a Porter fan, when scoring a fight, whether a British or American fight fan, you do so without bias. The workrate from Porter was to be admired, but the cold facts are simply that he did not land cleanly enough, often enough. The cleaner, more eye catching work, was done by Kell Brook. Whilst he took his time to work his way into the contest, not helped by Porters constant pressure. The jab was a constant weapon and a sight to behold when it got going. Point two, this was not a pretty fight, the styles did not gel. It was never going to be a beautiful war, for those who complain about the holding or ‘leaning’ of Kell Brook, look also at constant head first approach of Porter. No man was blameless, and even so, if the referee doesn’t bother to call either man out, who are they to stop? Finally, as previously stated, do not expect a rematch anytime soon, it wasn’t a fan friendly fight, nor did it do stellar TV numbers. Porter has all the potential to become a World Champion once more, it simply was not his night. For Brook, there seemingly will be no rest, he will be back in the UK for a homecoming fight in early December which shall coincide with the next fight of Amir Khan. Expect this to serve as a nice appetizer for what would well become the biggest British fight of all time in 2015. Don’t expect Brook to take on a monstrous challenge in his first defence, it would be stupid to expect someone to do so. It would be nice to see the vastly underrated Leonard Bundu get his chance at a World Title, and another opportunity to take down an English favorite after back to back victories over Lee Purdy and Frankie Gavin. Other names mentioned are Robert Guerrero and Josesito Lopez, either fights would be well worth a watch, and be very interesting matches stylistically.
Thank you very much for reading, for more like this, boxing news, views and opinions. Plus live round by round updates and in fight analysis. I can be found @SlippyBalls on Twitter
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