Gavin: Brook definitely has weaknesses I can exploit

By Boxing News - 05/26/2015 - Comments

gavin434By Scott Gilfoid: Frankie Gavin (22-1, 13 KOs) says he sees weakness in the game of IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (34-0, 23 KOs) that he thinks he can exploit this Saturday night in their fight at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Gavin says Brook leans forward too much and he feels he can nail him with shots. Gavin may be right about that because Brook has never been hard to hit in any of his fights. He had to resort to holding Shawn Porter all night long in order to slow down his offense.

Brook was getting hit way too much by Porter. Gavin feels that Brook lost that fight to Porter, which I’m in agreement with.

Gavin is the most technical fighter that Brook has faced during his career, and he thinks that’s going to give him problems. Gavin doesn’t have much punching power, but he can still box well enough to bust up Brook’s face with his stinging shots. Gavin is a better body puncher than a head puncher, and that could give him a chance to win this fight if he can take it to the inside without being held 24/7 by Brook.

“There are definitely weaknesses there which I can exploit,” Gavin said via RingTV.com. “He leans over his front foot a lot and he’s a lot easier to hit than I am.”

The weakness with Brook is in the chin department. While he’s got good punching power, he doesn’t seem to take shots as good as you’d like to see from fighters. Carson Jones had Brook out on his feet in the 12th round of their first fight. Vyacheslav Senchnko staggered Brook in their fight in 2013. Brook went on to win the fight, but he was definitely hurt in that fight.

We didn’t get a chance to see Brook hurt in the Porter fight because he clinched him so frequently, and got away with it by the referee not taking points off. Gavin does have better defensive skills, and he also moves around a lot better. Brook doesn’t move well. He’s more of a plodder that takes advantage of his punching power to make up for what he lacks in the defense and mobility departments.

Gavin lost to Leonard Bundu by a 12 round split decision in 2014. Bundu gave Gavin problems with his fast hands and hard body attack. Gavin wasn’t so bothered by the head shots. It was the body blows that it to him. In the 6th, Bundu dropped Gavin hard with a body shot that caused him to spit out his mouthpiece.

“I am still the best technical fighter Kell Brook has ever fought and I don’t think anyone can argue with that,” Gavin said.

Brook should still win this fight based on his superior punching power, but it might not be as easy as many people think. If the two fighters had equal punching power, I think Gavin would beat Brook. Gavin is the better boxer of the two and he can do more things in the ring. Brook is just a big welterweight with a lot of power. Some of the punching power no doubt comes from Brook’s size. He’s more like a junior middleweight who melts down to 147 rather than a legitimate welterweight.



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