Kell Brook wants Broner or Danny Garcia for July fight

By Boxing News - 04/20/2016 - Comments

brook455By Scott Gilfoid: IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook says he wants to fight either WBC 147lb champion Danny “Swift” Garcia or former four division world champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner for his next fight in July. Brook, 29, is leaving it up to his promoter Eddie Hearn to get one of those two fighters.

I think it’s a pipe dream on Brook’s part in wanting Broner or Garcia. There’s talk that those fighters will be facing each other next. After that, Garcia and Amir Khan will likely be fighting.

Khan is already saying he wants Garcia after his fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on May 7. It would seem that Brook has very little chance of fighting Broner or Garcia. I guess Brook may have to fight another Frankie Gavin or Kevin Bizier type fighter unfortunately.

If Brook can get Broner or Garcia, which would seem doubtful, it would give him his first big name in his 12-year pro career. Up until now, Brook has facing a lot of 2nd and 3rd tier type of fighters. In the last year, Brook has been fighting fringe contenders and guys with inflated rankings like Jo Jo Dan and Kevin Bizier. Unfortunately, Brook hasn’t been fighting good opposition, and that’s hurt his ability to increase his standings in the boxing world.

Right now you have to argue that Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) is just one of many fighters out there in the sport with a record that is almost completely padded with wins over fodder level opposition. The only real win on Brook’s resume was his victory over Shawn Porter, and that was not Brook’s finest hour in that fight due to the way he chose to fight Porter by holding all night long.

“Right now though, I want Danny Garcia. He is a big name, he is good and that would be my number one pick,” said Brook to skysports.com.

Garcia is managed by Al Haymon, and I seriously doubt that Haymon will put Garcia in a situation where he’s going to need to travel to the UK to fight in front of a large group of Brook supporters in a stadium. I really can’t see that happening. Since Hearn and Brook are looking for a big name willing to give Brook home advantage, I think it’s a near impossible situation.

You’re not going to get a big name that will be willing to travel to the UK and put himself in a situation where he might need a knockout in order to get out of there with a victory. I don’t it matters how much money Hearn throws at Danny Garcia, I don’t see that fight ever happening in this lifetime.

Maybe if Brook is willing to come to the States and fight Garcia in New York or Las Vegas, it might happen. But the thing is, Garcia will likely be facing Broner next in house fight on Premier Boxing Champions, so I don’t see Hearn and Brook getting either of those guys.

If Hearn can’t get Broner or Garcia to fight Brook, he’ll next be looking to get Tim Bradley or Lamont Peterson to fight him. Bradley lost his last fight against Manny Pacquiao. I’m not sure if Bradley will want to fight for a world title at this point in time, especially if it means a pay cut from his last fight. Peterson would likely agree to a fight against Brook.

However, Peterson was beaten just last year by Danny Garcia. I don’t know that you can call Lamont Peterson a big name. I mean, I don’t know what Hearn and Brook considers big names, but the last time I checked, Peterson doesn’t bring in huge ratings and isn’t a PPV attraction in the States. As such, it would seem that Hearn and Brook would be lowering their sights if they were to choose Peterson, because he’s just one step above the level of opposition that Brook has been fighting during his career.

Brook talks like he wants the big names, but then winds up fighting the likes of Frankie Gavin, Bizier, and Jo Jo Dan.

“A lot of people, including myself, would like to give him [Broner] a beating for how he acts and how he goes off,” said Brook about Broner. He’s someone I’d like to smack about! I am ready to go in July. I just want big names and I need to fight big names to get me up for a fight. I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

Broner is going through a lot right now in terms of legal issues. He just lost his WBA 140lb title after failing to make weight for his mismatch against Ashley Theophane. I do not see Haymon putting Broner in a situation where he has to travel to the UK to fight. The fight would have to take place in the U.S, and I don’t think it’s what Haymon will do. I’m hearing the Broner will fight Danny Garcia next. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. But I’d be willing to guess that we’re going to see that fight rather than a fight between Garcia or Broner against Brook in the UK.

I don’t see Hearn getting a big name for Brook for his next fight in July. I think it’s going to be Lamont Peterson (34-3-1, 17 KOs). This will be interesting to see how many fans are willing to come see Brook fight Peterson in a stadium in the UK. Brook has been blabbering about wanting to fight in a stadium for his next fight. Good luck trying to sell Brook vs. Peterson. I can’t see that fight filling even one-fourth of a stadium, even if they give complimentary tickets away to any pedestrian walking by the stadium on that particular day. Peterson has lost two out of his last five fights. He was beaten by Danny Garcia in 2015, and destroyed by Lucas Matthysse in three rounds in May of 2013. In Peterson’s last fight, he looked poor in struggling to beat light welterweight Felix Diaz by a 12 round majority decision last October.