By Scott Gilfoid: Some fighters come up with all kinds of excuses for when they fail to perform at a high level when their promoters ramp up their competition after many years of feeding them softest of competition.

Kell Brook (28-0, 18 KO’s) seems to be one of those fighters filled with excuses for why he suddenly looked dreadful in his last fight agaisnt Carson Jones last July when Brook was finally put in with someone that could fight a little after eight long years of easy fights.

There’s not much you can say about Brook’s fight against Carson Jones other than then fact that Brook hit the ceiling for what he’s capable of doing and was exposed by Jones. Instead of recognizing that he had met his match, Brook has been busy blaming his poor performance on his conditioning. Some boxing fans are actually buying it, while others remain skeptical and see it as just another fighter unable to come to terms with mediocrity.

Brook will be fighting Hector Saldivia (41-2, 32 KO’s) on Saturday night in an IBF welterweight eliminator bout at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. This fight is going to likely give Brook a false sense of invulnerability and we could see Brook soon spouting off at the mouth how good he is and how he’ll beat the Devon Alexander vs. Randall Bailey winner. Believe me, Brook isn’t beating either of those guys, but it’ll be interesting to see him brag how he can until he faces one of them and gets thrashed to pieces.

Brook said to Sky Sports News “I’m oozing confidence because I know that I’ve done absolutely everything right. I’m buzzing…I’m not just looking to win, I’m looking to get this kid out of there, be flash and really make a statement in this fight…it’s a new me.”

Brook is under the mistake impression that he can avoid looking terrible like he did last time by changing his diet. That’s obviously a case where he’s looking in the wrong places for answers to why he was so awful. It’s not the diet, it’s the lack of talent.

I fully expect for Brook to easily Saldivia on Saturday, but that’s only because I think the International Boxing Federation has given Saldivia an inflated ranking that he doesn’t deserve. Saldivia looks like he belongs closer to the 3rd tier rather than the 1st tier. I don’t know how he got to the #3 ranking by the IBF but it shows you how upside down their ranking system is.