By Scott Gilfoid: Former cruiserweight world champion Johnny Nelson thinks there’s a potential for IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (35-0, 24 KOs) overlooking his next opponent #1 IBF Kevin Bizier (25-2, 17 KOs) in their fight this month in 10 days on March 26 at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, UK.
The fight is a perceived mismatch in the eyes of the boxing public, as Bizier has lost two out of his last six contests in the past three years, and he’s done precious little to deserve a world title fight other than beating fringe contender Fredrick Lawson last November.
Nelson feels that Brook might overlook the 31-year-old Bizier, because he’s been beaten twice by Jo Jo Dan, a fighter that Brook obliterated in four rounds last March in a horrible mismatch.
The difference is Bizier had problems with the movement of Jo Jo Dan, and he wasn’t able to chase him down as well as Brook did. If it had been a straight up fight with Dan standing in one place for 12 rounds, Bizier likely would have taken him out without any problems in a heartbeat.
“Kell will be thinking Jo-Jo Dan beat him twice, so he might be thinking this is really easy, but it’s not as easy as it looks,” said Nelson to skysports.com. “Kell has to keep on top of him, close him down, get rid of him and make a statement. Not just win.”
Bizier is a good puncher, and he’s done well against fighters that have come straight at him. The only fighter he’s lost was to Jo Jo Dan, who used movement and pure boxing to get the better of him in their two fights. If Brook comes straight into the teeth of Bizier’s offense, then he had better be ready to take some major shots, because Bizier is going to be looking to take his head off to win his IBF title.
This is Bizier’s big chance, and he’s got the perfect opponent in front of him in the easy to hit Brook. It’s going to be even tougher for Brook in this fight because he needs to put on a big shot in order to impress the boxing world.
Brook can’t just win a boring decision, because he’s trying to make a case for him to be fighting the other world champions in unification fights. He’s not going to be able to do that if he resorts to his holding and spoiling tactics that he used to beat Shawn Porter to win the vacant IBF welterweight title in 2014. In other words, Brook is going to have to fight rather than hold to impress the boxing world, and I’m not sure if he can do that against a big hitter like Bizer.
Once Brook starts getting nailed by Bizer, I see him reverting back to form by looking to clinch 10 plus times per round to keep from getting hit. Once Brook starts fighting like that, then all hope that he had to impress the other world champions will have gone out the window, because they will not be impressed with that gawd awful fighting.
I think the reality is that Brook isn’t that great of fighter. When it’s all said and done, Brook is just a fighter with good power but flawed skills, who has been spoon fed soft opposition through much of his 12-year pro career. The one good opponent he faced, Shawn Porter, Brook held nonstop in their fight in 2014 to win a close, controversial decision.
If not for all the clinching Brook did in that fight, I think he would have been battered and stopped by Porter. The referee just totally went to sleep in the fight in failing to police Brook’s constant holding, because that was some of the worst holding I’ve seen from a fighter in a fight before and not be penalized or disqualified for it.
“To me he [Brook] is top of the welterweight tree,” Nelson said.
Brook the best fighter in the welterweight division? I think not. Heck, I don’t even see Brook as the best welterweight in the UK, much less the best fighter in the entire division. I rate Khan ahead of Brook. I also rate the following 147lb fighters as better than Brook: Porter, Keith Thurman, Errol Spence Jr. Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley.
Don’t get me wrong; I think Brook is a good welterweight. I just don’t see him at the level of the top five guys in the 147lb division. I do rate Brook above Danny Garcia, the WBC welterweight champion, but I see Garcia as a paper champion and not a legitimate champ.
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