By William Mackay: Undefeated welterweight contender Kell Brook (26-0, 18 KO’s) was supposed to be stepping it up a class after his last fight against Luis Galarza last Saturday night which Brook easily won by a 5th round TKO.

The talk from Brook’s promote Eddie Hearn was that Brook would step it up against a really good fighter and possibly a champion. Instead of facing a dangerous contender or a champion, the 25-year-old Brook could end up facing IBF International welterweight champion Matthew Hatton (42-5-2, 16 Ko’s) next.

Forget about the obscure title and all the wins over 2nd and 3rd tier opposition on Hatton’s resume, this is clearly a step down for Brook from his fight against Rafal Jackiewicz last October. I would even consider it a step down from the Galarza fight because Galarza has much better hand speed and pop in his punches compared to Hatton.

Hatton, ranked #9 WBA, #11 IBF, has been hanging around for a long time hoping to get a shot against the World Boxing Association welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko. However, he’s been ignored completely by the Ukrainian champion, and because Hatton has been unable to rise up the ranks due partly to his one-sided 12 round decision loss to Saul Alvarez, Hatton has become stuck in the rankings. Some boxing fans think Hatton gave Alvarez a lot of problems but he really didn’t. Hatton just too punishment for 12 rounds and showed a good chin against a young kid in the 21-year-old Alvarez.

If Brook ends up facing Hatton then that will be very sad because Brook has been a pro for eight long years and he’s STILL fighting 2nd tier opposition. Brook is like the welterweight division’s version of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., a fighter known for having an impressive looking resume filled with B and C level fighters instead of quality fighters from the A class.

Brook has recently said he would like to fight top ranked unbeaten welterweight contender Mike Jones next. That would be a really good fight if both fighters were willing to take the risky fight instead of just talking. But for Brook to be fighting Hatton instead of Jones, that’s a bad sign.