By Scott Gilfoid: Number #1 ranked WBO welterweight contender Kell Brook (22-0, 15 KO’s) faces what’s supposed to be his toughest opponent yet against 37-year-old Michael Clark (40-5-1, 18 KO’s) on December 11th, a the Echo Arena, in Liverpool, England. And sadly, this may actually be the best fighter that Brook has ever faced and that’s kind of telling, isn’t it? Here we have Brook, a fighter that’s ranked number #1 by the WBO, fighting what’s supposed to be his best opponent of his career in a fighter that is nearly 40-years-old. I’m sorry, but I see this as another case of Brook being matched softly. I still haven’t see Brook face anyone that I would consider even slightly good. And to think Brook is supposed to be fighting for the WBO title against somebody if he beats Clark.

It won’t be WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao that Brook faces next if he can beat Clark. God, I really hope Brook can beat Clark, because if he can’t then Brook is worse than I previously thought. I’m really not all that impressed with Brook thus far. He looks short with a too small frame for me, and his power looks very average. I can’t see him beating number #2 WBO contender Mike Jones or #3 contender Saul Alvarez. Indeed, I see Brook overall as a 2nd tier fighter in terms of the top guys in the welterweight division. He just seems too lacking in many areas.

But, I think he can probably beat this Clark guy. Clark was stopped in the 1st round by Mike Alvarado in 2007, Cornelius Bundrage in 2006, and stopped in the 7th by Sirimongkol Singwancha in 2005. As for Clark’s wins, I’ve never heard of the guys he’s beaten and I noticed a lot of them have losing records. The best fighter that Brook has ever fought, eh? I’d hate to think that Brook will go from beating guys like Michael Jennings and Clark to facing a slugger like Mike Jones. Those guys are no preparation for a fighter like Jones. That’s why it’s best to move a guy steadily upwards against better and better opposition each time instead of matching them against guys like this and then throwing them all of a sudden into the deep end. I feel sorry for Brook if he does face Jones, because I see him getting stretched.

Also on the same card, British super middleweight champion Paul Smith faces unbeaten talent James DeGale, light heavyweight contender Nathan Cleverly tales on Alejandro Lakatos in a fight that I really don’t see the point in making, Matthew Macklin in a soft match-up against Ruben Varon, Tony Bellew against whoever they find, and Frankie Gavin vs. Dean Harrison. Of these fights, only the DeGale-Smith fight interests me. I wouldn’t mind seeing Cleverly against someone good like Gabriel Campillo, Glen Johnson, Adrian Diaconu, Ismayl Sillakh, Chad Dawson or Hugo Garay, but then again Cleverly would likely lose to all of those guys and at least with Lakatos, Cleverly will probably win.