By Scott Gilfoid: Challenger Frankie Gavin (22-1, 13 KOs) has no chance of pulling off the upset this Saturday, says IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (24-0, 23 KOs), who will be facing the 29-year-old “Funtime” Gavin at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn was the one who thought it would be a good idea for Brook to fight Gavin, and instead of resisting the idea, Brook thought it was a great idea and readily agreed to the fight. Of course, this isn’t the fight that fans want to see.
They want Brook to step up to the real 1st tier fighters like Keith Thurman and Marcos Maidana, rather than guys that merely have a high ranking due to one of the sanctioning bodies giving it to them. For example, Gavin is ranked #4 by the IBF, above guys like Shawn Porter, Tim Bradley, Diego Chaves, Sadam Ali and Devon Alexander.
I can’t see Gavin beating any of those fighters, yet the IBF has Gavin ranked above them all. Interestingly enough, Gavin isn’t ranked in the top 15 by any of the other sanctioning bodies. That kind of gives you an indication of where he’s at in terms of the majority of the sanctioning bodies.
“Let me tell you something now. Frankie Gavin is getting nowhere near that belt,” Brook said to IFL TV. “He can see it, he can look at it. I might even let him touch it. But he’s not going to own it. That’s my belt – it’s took me a long time to get that belt and there’s no way ‘Funtime’ Frankie is taking that off me.”
It’s really hard to say what will happen in this fight on Saturday, because Brook is one of those flawed fighters that can look good against a mediocre fighter, and then fall apart completely against the same opposition. I still can’t forget how Brook imploded in his first fight against Carson Jones in 2012 in winning a 12 round majority decision.
Brook gassed out after six rounds and took a royal beating from Jones. I had Jones winning that fight, but my point is that Brook can fall apart even against mediocre opposition. I don’t think Gavin has the same kind of punching power that Jones possesses, but he won’t need it. If Brook gasses out completely like he did in the Jones fight, I could definitely see Gavin stepping in and giving Brook a royal thrashing and rearrange his nose like Jones did to him.
“I’m excited. I’ve got the momentum of the Jo Jo Dan fight – I’ve been back in the gym straight away,” Brook said. “I told Eddie (Hearn) that I wanted to be fighting as soon as possible. He came up with the Frankie Gavin fight and it’s an exciting fight for me.”
Brook is excited about fighting Gavin? Oh man, I think that win over Jo Jo Dan has really gone to Brook’s head. I’m just saying. This is what I was afraid of. Hearn puts Brook in with a soft touch in Jo Jo Dan, he then beats him, and suddenly he’s thinking he’s on the top of the world up there with the elites instead of him just being a regular blue-collar Joe type fighter that wins through hard work rather than talent.
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