gavin By Scott Gilfoid: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn says that #5 IBF, #12 WBA, #14 WBC Frankie Gavin (22-1, 13 KOs) is a possibility as an opponent for IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (34-0, 23 KOs) for his next fight on May 30th at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Hearn is trying to put together a fight between Gavin and former two division world champ Tim Bradley in an IBF 147lb eliminator bout next. But if that fight doesn’t take place, Hearn says that Gavin is certainly a possibility for Brook’s next fight.

Hearn doesn’t have an opponent for Brook to fight on May 30th. He wants to match him against former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios in July or August. As of now, Gavin is scheduled to face Chris van Heerden on May 9th. I doubt that fight will happen.

“The IBF has called for a final eliminator between Tim Bradley and Frankie Gavin. It’s a huge fight for Frankie,” Hearn said via IFL TV. “We have to think about the van Heerden fight if we lose Frankie from the Birmingham fight. AJ [Anthony Joshua] would be a great replacement. Gavin’s in a great spot. He’s got the fight with Tim Bradley, and he might fight Kell Brook.”

If Gavin gets the Kell Brook fight then Hearn will be opening up himself for criticism with the match. We’re talking about a fighter who was beaten up and schooled by 40-year-old Leonard Bundu only four fights ago in August of 2014. Gavin has won his last three fights since then against Bogdan Mitic, Bradley Skeete and Mate Hornyak. I may be wrong, but I’m not sure that those are household names that fighters typically face right before getting a world title shot. I mean, with victories like that, Gavin should be vying for a bottom 15 ranking rather than being ranked at No.5 by the International Boxing Federation and finding himself in a position where he could be getting either a world title fight against Brook or an IBF final 147 pound eliminator against Tim Bradley. Either way, I just don’t see how Gavin rates those type of fights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyfN7RwGs3I

What’s interesting is that Hearn and Brook have been taking shots at Khan for choosing to fight former WBO light welterweight champion Chris Algieri in his next fight on May 30th. I don’t disagree that this is a soft fight for Khan, but at least Algieri is an ex-world champion. Frankie Gavin is an unproven domestic level fighter who was badly exposed by Bundu last year when he tried to step it up against a fringe contender. The loss to Bundu should have arguably knocked Gavin out of the top 15, you would think. But instead of being knocked out of the top 15, Gavin is ranked highly by the IBF at No.5.

The ranking doesn’t make much sense because Bundu isn’t even ranked in the IBF’s top 15 despite the fact that he beat Gavin. What kind of logic is that? Bundu beats Gavin and yet Gavin is ranked No.5 and Bundu not even in the top 15. What’s even weirder is that the IBF has Gavin ranked above former IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter, Diego Chaves, Devon Alexander and Sadam Ali. I think four fighters would beat Gavin, as well as Bundu if he was ever given another chance at him.

Hearn can certainly do better than Gavin if he wants to comb the welterweight ranks for a good opponent for Brook to fight. I can understand why Hearn would want to match Gavin against Brook, because he promotes both guys. But the fight would make a lot more sense if Gavin actually worked his way into the spot the hard way by earning it against Tim Bradley, Chaves, Alexander, Porter and Ali. If Gavin could beat all those guys, then give him a title shot. But if all of them whip Gavin like I think they would, then it’s not worth it to let Gavin get a world title shot.