By Scott Gilfoid: Sometimes when you see a fighter that has been protected for most of his career with easy fights there’s some kind of weakness that is being hidden from the boxing fans. There’s some kind of flaw that his team doesn’t want to be exposed to the light of day.

Is unbeaten welterweight contender Kell Brook (27-0, 18 KO’s) one of those kinds of fighters? I don’t know, but I think we’re going to find out in a big hurry on July 7th when Brook faces his first quality opponent of his 9-year pro career against #3 IBF welterweight contender Carson Jones (34-8-2, 24 KO’s). It’s very, very peculiar that Brook has been fighting for nine years and he’s only now getting around to fighting his first true top tier opponent. Now why is that? Why hasn’t Brook fought the best in the past?

I mean, usually when you have a prospect/contender that you’re high on, they get put in with a good fighter after the fourth or fifth year, but not with Brook. He’s close to being a 10 year pro and he’s just now facing his first opponent that’s got some talent. Jones, 25, is a big step up from the fodder that Brook has been feasting on during his career, and I just wonder why it took so many years for Brook to finally get put in with a good opponent.

I think Jones is all wrong for Brook. He’s got fast hands, good power and he throws with combinations. He’s also got a much longer reach and he knows how to fight in close at at the distance. If Jones decides he wants to spear the shorter-armed Brook all night long with jabs and right hands, I believe he can do this and not get hit. The only way Brook lands is if he bum rushes Jones to get in close enough to where his shots won’t hit air.