By Gav Duthie: Eddie Hearn wasted no time snapping up ‘Funtime’ Frankie Gavin 21-1 (13) after his contract expired with Frank Warren. After only a couple of weeks Gavin has already been penciled in for two separate fight dates with Matchroom Promotions.
One is on the Kell Brook-Jo Jo Dan undercard on 28th March in Sheffield versus an unnamed opponent with the other a homecoming bout on May 9th in Birmingham against South African Chris Van Heerden 22-1-1 (13).
IBF International Title
It is certainly no coincidence that he fights on Kell’s undercard next month followed by a version of the IBF title in May for which Brook holds the main strap. Eddie Hearn is clearly manipulating Frankie into the IBF rankings so that he can match him up with Brook in the future.
Domestic rivalries
Eddie has clearly been chasing the heights of the Carl Froch v George Groves phenomenon since that night. A PPV rematch between Tony Bellew and Nathan Cleverly failed to really capture the imagination but Hearn is desperate for another stadium fight and more Pay events. He is also looking to match-up Tommy Coyle and Luke Campbell to the same end but would there be enough interest in Brook-Gavin.
Funtime?
I think it is clever to put Frankie’s big fight in his local city because it will let Eddie know just how popular he is. Birmingham has more than 1 million of a population but rarely holds big boxing events. The problem for me is that Frankie doesn’t really have that ‘Funtime’ style that his name suggests. Gavin was a fantastic amateur boxer, he was a world champion and favorite for the 2008 Beijing Olympics before he couldn’t make weight. His style is still very much based on the amateur game with 1-2 combinations and bob and weave movement. At the top level his shots are point scoring as opposed to powerful. His win over Bradley Skeete was terrible viewing and the Leonard Bundu fight was only exciting because the Italian forced the action. Gavin is talented but I don’t think there would be a huge amount of interest in him fighting Brook.
Chris Van Heerden
Obviously he has to get by this man first. Van Heerden was linked with a title shot against Brook in the first place before Jo Jo Dan took up his mandatory option. He has only lost once to a tight split decision and he retired Matthew Hatton with a convincing points victory in 2013. However, the South African’s style is also far from exciting? and he has struggled to split decision victories in his last two outings one against Ray Narh. Even if Gavin did win this fight, I think he should chase a rematch with Leonard Bundu before he looks at the likes of Brook.
Amir Khan
It is possible that Hearn won’t look to put Kell Brook in with any big danger men like Juan Manuel Marquez or Tim Bradley until he can tempt Amir Khan. I think Brook-Khan is a stadium fight and PPV but it requires Brook to remain undefeated and a world champion to make it happen.
I wish Frankie Gavin all the best. He has had problems in the past and with Matchroom he will get good opportunities but I think he will fall just short of world level. His best bet is if he moves down to welterweight.
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