By Grant Darling: After Kell Brook’s last 2 fights some would say it looks like it could be the end of the road for him at the elite level, but I believe he can come back stronger than ever. For any British fighter to go stateside and take a world title in the champions back yard is a hard feat to accomplish.
Plus, many people thought that this was the first world class opponent Kell had faced which stacked the odds against him. Don’t forget, Shaun Porter was an unbeaten world champion at the time and due to his come-forward and pressing style, he was being tipped as the ‘Mike Tyson of the welterweights’. For Kell to win, he would need to be the slicker, cleaner hitting and more convincing fighter for him to have any chance of bringing that world title home to Sheffield and that’s exactly what he done. Dominic Ingle, Brook’s trainer, is a great tactician and knows how to extract the best from his fighters and he proved that with Kell’s performance at the StubHub Arena in Carson by not letting Porter bully him, and by firing off quick slick punches and lightning combinations, landing the much cleaner of the work of the two. I remember watching thinking ‘Kell is winning this but I’m not sure the judges are actually going to lean towards him on the scorecards’ as it was a fairly close but, correctly, they did and Kell became the IBF Welterweight champion of the world.
Sadly, not long after becoming the world champ, he was stabbed in the leg whilst on holiday which put him out of action for a while but after getting back on track with a full recovery he made 3 routine defences. The only trouble with this is it meant he wasn’t getting the big blockbuster unification fights he was hoping for so he made the audacious decision, which came completely out of the blue, to fight the Pound for Pound Champ Gennady Golovkin. ‘GGG’ was also struggling to get a fight at the time, as no one was prepared to take on the man that was stopping everyone in his tracks, building a formidable knockout record and making him the most avoided world title holder in any division. To go up two weight classes and fight Golovkin was deemed as ridiculous by many, but you have to take your hat off to Kell Brook for doing so. Most fighters try to protect their record and titles but he threw caution to the wind, believed in his ability and took on the man that no one else would. Even though I’m a huge Kell Brook fan, I thought this was a huge task but up until he broke his eye socket he was certainly holding his own in the square circle. Despite losing, I think his reputation went up significantly in the boxing world and proved he can handle himself with the best in the business.
After that he decided to defend his 147lb title against the stylish Errol Spence Jnr, but building up to the fight it was always a worry about draining himself back down to welterweight, after looking so comfortable at 160lbs. We all know boxers will always say the weight isn’t an issue but you can clearly see when someone is boiling themselves down to make weight and realistically it is time to come up a division and this was certainly the case in the Errol Spence fight. ‘The Truth’ looked so natural at the weight, and was the superior fighter on the night, beating Kell to the punch nearly every time and after another broken eye socket the towel was thrown in. Many world champions slated the decision and said as a champ you should fight on, but why risk your eyesight and health when you can come back and fight another day? He was behind on the scorecards, losing each round more comfortably as it went on and risked causing life changing damage just for pride? Maybe 20 years ago that would have been the case but in the modern game, where the boxers are deemed to businessmen as much as fighters, it just isn’t worth doing. Dominic Ingle has known Kell Brook since he was a young boy, and knows what’s best for his fighter.
After 6 months off the radar it seems as if he is ready to come back, at his most dangerous looking weight of 154lb. Kell has been seen back in the gym and Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, his promoter, posted yesterday about news to come soon with #154 on it, and to be fair, I think it makes sense. With ‘GGG’ having a lock down on the 160lb division, the 154lb weight class seems the obvious choice and definitely a division Kell Brook can have an impact on. I honestly think, with maybe one or two warm up fights on top 10 ranked opponents, he can win a world title at Super Welterweight quite comfortably. The hunger will be there as a challenger and he will feel he has something to prove. The weight is comfortable for him as well and he will have tremendous power and speed in the 154lb division. If he combines his wins and losses’ best attributes he can win another world title 100%. Like him or loathe him, he is a stylish boxer to watch, and to give as good as he got against Golovkin in the opening rounds takes some serious doing. I would even go as far as to say that Kell Brook fought as well as, if not better, than Canelo Alvarez did in the opening rounds.
There are some good super welterweight champions at the moment but other than the very best version of Erislandy Lara, I think Kell Brook can beat them all comfortably once fully active again. The mastermind Eddie Hearn knows the best way possible to get his fighters a world title fight, and sometimes even gets what some deem the most winnable option of the world champions for his stable. In addition to this, he can often make it doable to host the event in the UK even as the contender due to his PPV deal with Sky Sports Box Office making it financially viable for both parties and giving Kell a home town advantage. To be fair to Eddie, he is so good at putting on events he could host a fight between the two most boring fighters and after a couple of press conferences I would be handing over my money to watch it. Having said that, it wouldn’t be a problem for Kell Brook to go stateside again and do what he did against Porter; coming home with a world title. Don’t forget, future Hall of Famer Miguel Cotto is defending his WBO Super Welterweight title against Sadam Ali in less than 2 weeks’ time on December 2nd, which also puts a title out there and could be a great option for Kell Brook to get straight into the mix for a world title shot. It wouldn’t surprise me if Eddie Hearn manages to get Kell’s first fight at 154lb as an eliminator to fight for the Super Welterweight WBO title, whether that be against Sadam Ali if he beats Cotto, or for the Vacant title if Ali loses and Cotto retires. My prediction? If ‘Special’ Kell Brook wants to be, within a year he will be a 2 weight World Champion at 154lb.