By Scott Gilfoid: It’s sad but possibly true that in order to ensure that he escapes with a victory over unbeaten welterweight contender Kell Brook (28-0, 18 KO’s) on October 20th, #3 IBF Hector David Saldivia (41-2, 32 KO’s) may need to score a knockout against him in their IBF welterweight eliminator bout at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK.

The reason that the 28-year-old Saldivia may need to knock Brook out cold is that the 26-year-old Brook is coming off a 12 round decision win over Carson Jones in a fight that Brook arguably should have lost last July. The American Jones gave Brook a royal beating in the last six rounds of the fight in addition to winning at least one of the first six rounds. Brook took a real pounding from Jones in the 12th round, and was staggered badly.

Just when Jones was looking to finish Brook off the referee stepped in and halted the action and spent valuable time giving Jones a long warning with just seconds left in the fight and Brook teetering around like he was ready to drop.

Saldivia can’t afford to put himself in a position to where he too will end up on the losing end of a controversial decision in a fight that he appeared to win. This is why he’s going to have to really load up with every shot and focus on entirely throwing head shots so that he doesn’t find himself getting a questionable decision loss.

Saldivia needs to focus on coming on strong after the 6th, because Brook is little more than a six round fighter, as he completely gasses out after the midpoint in his fights unless he’s facing a weak opponent that lets him fight at a snails pace. Saldivia just has to set a fast pace and then pour it on in the second half of the fight when Brook fighting on fumes.