By Scott Gilfoid: Right now, Kell Brook (33-0, 22 KOs) is probably still up in the clouds after beating IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter (24-1-1, 15 KOs) last week to win his IBF title.
Brook obviously sees that win as the beginning of a long line of victories where he’ll become the next mega-millionaire in Britain similar to how IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch recently struck it rich with the big money he made from his fights against Mikkel Kessler and George Groves. I don’t know that Brook is going to be able to get to the next level to where he’s going to make the kind of cash to where he can live in the sticks among nature.
For Brook to get the big cash, he’s going to need to be able to beat Amir Khan next year in their proposed fight in April or May of 2015. If Brook loses to Khan, which is what I see happening, then he’ll be back to where he was when he beating the likes of Hector Saldivia and Matthew Hatton.
I believe that Khan’s hand speed, arm length, power and mobility is going to create huge, huge problems for Brook when/if that fight takes place. I don’t know of any tricks that Brook can use to try and win rounds against Khan, because clinching won’t work.
Khan is kind of the same type of fighter that Keith Thurman is in that he doesn’t fight on the inside, and he likes to move a great deal. Thurman doesn’t hold and pull down on his opponent’s heads the way that Khan does, but he likes to move a lot of the time.
Yeah, Brook will still have his faithful fans in Sheffield who will continue to show up to see his fights if he loses to Khan, but he’ll be a defeat ex-champion at that point, and there won’t be any easy marks he can beat to pick up a strap from. I think it’s safe to say that none of the champions will pick Brook out for a voluntary title defense.
Once Brook loses his IBF title, he’s going to need to work his way back to a mandatory spot once again, and that could take anywhere from 1-3 years, depending on the kinds of opposition that his promoter Eddie Hearn matches him up against.
If Hearn puts him in with more Saldivia and Alvaro Robles type opposition, then we could looking at another 3 years before Brook gets another title shot. But with the way that Brook was clinching Porter all night in their fight, I think that’s going to ruin Brook’s chances of getting selected for a voluntary defense because I doubt that any of the champions will want Brook clinching over and over again in each round to try and steal the fight with the old punch and grab technique.
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