By Scott Gilfoid: IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (33-0, 22 KOs) will be defending his title for the first time next March in a fight that will likely be staged in the UK. Brook had previously planned on fighting in December of this year against a notable but not dangerous opponent, but he was stabbed by an unknown person while on vacation in Tenerife and that ruined his plans.
Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn will probably look to match him against an opponent that U.S boxing fans will recognize like Josesito Lopez, Andre Berto or Brandon Rios.
In other words, it’ll be someone who the U.S casual fans recognize, buy not someone with a good chance of beating Brook like Keith Thurman or Devon Alexander. Hearn obviously isn’t going to ruin a potential Brook vs. Amir Khan mega-fight by matching Brook against someone that will do a job on him.
We already saw how Brook needed to clinch 24/7 in order to defeat former IBF champion Shawn Porter by a controversial decision last August. That was an ugly to watch fight due to the constant holding that Brook did in the fight. It would be interesting to know how Brook would have done had he not been able to hold Porter every round.
As it was, Brook barely won the fight by a 12 round majority decision. I had Porter winning the fight by 4 rounds. I just couldn’t give Brook any of the championship rounds due to his constant holding.
“I’m back training, having no problem with the leg,” Brook said via Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. “I’ll be back in the boxing ring defending my world title in March.”
If Hearn isn’t careful, Brook could get beaten if he matches him against someone with too much talent. Heck, even a guy like Berto, Rios or Lopez might have too much for Brook if he doesn’t opt to hold all night long like he did against Porter.
Those guys can punch a little and I wouldn’t be surprised if they beat Brook. We are talking about a fragile champion in terms of talent and staying healthy.
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