By Dallan O’Donnell: When Kell Brook takes on Lovemore N’Dou tonight in Sheffield for the vacant WBA intercontinental welterweight title we will witness another step in the long journey to the top for Brook. After never facing any decent opposition, N’Dou will be the most decorated fighter to face Brook. With undoubted talent, fast hands and bags of power it has probably been the slowest rise of a boxer with this much potential.

Brook will win tonight, probably without any trouble at all from N’Dou who has never been stopped. Brook has failed to dazzle before against much lesser opposition but if he brings his ‘A’ game tonight he could be the first man to stop N’Dou. This fight is not even a stepping stone to a world title or at least it shouldn’t as Brook hasn’t mixed it with the top level performers around the world.

Brook will almost certainly never fight Manny Pacquiao even though he is number 2 ranked for Pacquiao’s WBO belt. He will also never fight the likes of Victor Ortiz or Floyd Mayweather Jr. He will never fight them as he is an unknown in America, there would be no commercial value for them to fight Brook. What Brook and his promoters, Matchroom sport need to do is fight on the undercard of big fight bills against a big name in America with experience and most of all someone who would pose a threat to Brook. P

aulie Malignaggi fits that profile perfectly. Malignaggi is popular and a former IBF light-welterweight champion who has fought top ranked fighters in his career. Matchroom should try to get Brook on the Pacquiao- Marquez undercard or the Mayweather -Ortiz undercard (both fights take place in September) against Malignaggi with the winner fighting for a world title. Malignaggi recently stepped up to welterweight fighting Miguel Cotto’s brother-Jose winning by unanimous decision. Brook needs to step up now or run the risk of never making a name for himself at the top which would be a shame, he has the talent to be a world champion.