Brook undergoes surgery to repair broken eye socket

By Boxing News - 09/28/2016 - Comments

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By Adam Godfrey: IBF Welterweight champion Kell Brook underwent surgery last week to reverse the damage caused to his right eye socket during his TKO loss to Middleweight Champion Gennady Golovkin on September 10th. Surgery was presumably delayed for two weeks to ensure the swelling had abated sufficiently for the surgeon to carry out the operation, which, according to Brook’s trainer Dominic Ingle, involved told The Star:

“…The surgeon-who was called Mohammed Ali, believe it or not- going up through his gums, his front teeth, moving an eye to one side and then sorting out the fracture”.

Despite such invasive surgery Ingle insists that Brook intends to fight again as early as possible in 2017, which suggests that the surgery was a success and complications have thus far been avoided.

By consensus Brook performed well against Golovkin, considering the jump in weight and talent from fighting lightly regarded Welterweights such as Jo Jo Dan, Frankie Gavin and Kevin Bizier to challenging the unified, undefeated Kazakh Middleweight, but it remains unclear exactly in which weight division Kell Brook’s future lies. There is the popular, and persuasive, assumption that Brook will find it difficult to boil down to the 147 Welterweight limit to defend his title, especially having proclaimed himself to be more comfortable, both physically and mentally, training to make the 160lb Middleweight limit.

It seems likely that Brook will relinquish his IBF strap and move up to the Junior Middleweight class, where he will also feel comfortable making weight without compromising his punching power, at least not to the same extent as a jump of two divisions entails. Brook has more than satisfactory power at Welterweight and should retain this moving up to 154lb.

There is an array of good fights for Brook at Junior Middleweight, and a bout against either of the Charlo brothers, Demetrius Andrade, Erisandy Lara, Julian Williams, Canelo Alvarez or Miguel Cotto would prick the collective conscience of fight fans. Brook may also chose to look towards Amir Khan for a fight that would sound the ringing of tills in the UK. This bout would resonate with the British public, and a Froch v Groves-esque turnout at Wembley stadium would not be fanciful.

Ingle went on to state that:

“After fighting Golovkin, Kell only wants to box seriously big names, like Amir Khan, Saul Alvarez, Miguel Cotto. Big fights and titles on the line, that’s what you need from this moment on.”

Most would agree that Brook needs to inject some urgency into his career following a series of relatively soft defenses since becoming a World Champion, and fighting Golovkin should give his camp both the exposure and the impetus it needs to make the big fights happen for the Sheffield Boxer.