By William Mackay: #2 IBF Kell Brook (28-0, 18 KO’s) will be looking to become the mandatory challenger for the winner of the title fight between IBF welterweight champion Randall Bailey vs. Devon Alexander when Brook takes on Hector David Saldivia (41-2, 32 KO’s) in an IBF welterweight eliminator bout on October 20th at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn from Matchroom Sport wants Brook to take the eliminator bout because it will look Brook in for a title shot and guarantee him a bigger payday in the process. However, it might not mean a whole lot if Brook doesn’t perform better than he did in his last fight agaisnt Carson Jones when Brook ran out of gas and was badly hurt in the 12th round of that fight.

Brook was very lucky to win, and the performance suggested that Brook isn’t ready for the big time opposition just yet. He’s got to work on his power, his stamina and his composure. He looked like an amateur when he started feeling the heat from Jones in the later rounds.

Brook said this to the southyorkshiretimes.co.uk “I proved I have massive heart against Carson. I said after the fight that there needs to be an improvement and on October 20th my fans are going to see me at my very best.”

It takes more than just lip service from Brook to make believers out of doubting fans, because he’s had problems with his stamina for the last couple of fights. We can’t really know whether this has been a problem from the beginning because Brook has been knocking out most of his soft opposition in the early going. He does alright if he can get an opponent out early or if he doesn’t have to fight under pressure, but he’s looked bad in his last two fights.

It may be meaningless if Brook beats Saldivia because his chances of beating Bailey or Alexander are remote at best. A fight between Brook and Alexander or Bailey would take place in the United States, not Britain, and Brook will be out there on his own without the fans cheering him on. I can’t see him beating either of those guys to be perfectly honest. He’s not ready.