By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten welterweight contender Kell Brook (27-0, 18 KO’s) supposedly was finally interested in going after a big name for his next fight after facing mostly 2nd tier opposition during the previous 8 years of his pro career. Former IBF/WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander (27-1, 18 KO’s) showed interest in fighting Brook on August 18th, but Brook and his promoter couldn’t agree to that. Why not? What’s the hold up? Are they looking for another Matthew Hatton level fighter for Brook to shine against?

Brook is scheduled to be back in the ring on July 7th for his next fight at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. According to Dan Rafael, that’s the date that they wanted to fight Alexander on rather than in August. They also wanted Alexander, the much more established fighter, to come all the way to the UK to fight Alexander rather than Alexander coming to the United States for the fight. Do you see anything wrong with this picture? I do.

Brook doesn’t have the name or the clout to ask a former two-time world champion like Alexander for a fight. Alexander recently totally schooled WBA light welterweight champion Marcos Maidana by beating him by a 10 round unanimous decision last February in a non-title fight at welterweight. Alexander looked superb in beating a guy that Amir Khan went life and death win in 2010 in a fight where Maidana might have won had the referee not separated the two fighters so often after Khan was on bambi legs in the 10th round.

So the Brook-Alexander fight isn’t going to happen because Brook doesn’t want to fight Alexander in August in the U.S. How sad. Well, I can already envision the kind of opponent that Brook will likely be fighting in July. Picture another beatable opponent scooped up from the bottom of the top 15, someone that has no power, speed and has a semi-recognizable name among hardcore boxing fans. I doubt they’ll even get a 1st tier opponent for the July date. It’s probably going to be another 2nd tier job that gets carted into the ring and let loose for Brook to tee off on in front of 9000 Brook fans, who probably won’t mind the mismatch.