By Tim Royner: Eddie Hearn says both Kell Brook and Dillian Whyte could be back inside the ring in December. Hearn wants former IBF welterweight champion Brook (38-2, 26 KOs) to return action because he hasn’t fought since last December when he struggled to defeat junior middleweight Michael Zerafa.
Brook, 33, won’t be involved in the mega-fight that he wants, says Hearn, but he wants him to get back in action. He’s been out of the ring for too long.
Hearn says heavyweight Whyte (26-1, 18 KOs) could be fighting as well, as long as UKAD clears up his situation. They’ve still yet to release the results of Whyte’s B-sample from before fight last July against Oscar Rivas. Whyte’s A-sample tested positive for a banned substance, but he was still allowed to fight Rivas.
Subsequently won the match by a 12 round unanimous decision to capture the interim WBC heavyweight title. The scores were 115-112, 115-112 and 116-112. It’s unknown why UKAD still hasn’t released the results of Whyte’s B-sample three months after his fight with Rivas on July 20. Hearn says Whyte isn’t suspended, and he can still fight.
Hearn wants Brook back in December
“We’re hoping to get him out in December,” said Hearn about Kell Brook. “It won’t be the mega-fight that he’s after, but he needs to get out. It’s been 10 months since he last boxed [against Michael Zerafa in December 2018]. We need to make sure he gets out, gets ready, and gets put in all those big fights,” said Hearn.
Brook’s performance against Zerafa suggests that he’s not cut out for the junior middleweight division. It probably won’t matter if Hearn puts Brook in with a fighter from the 154-lb division when/if he returns to the ring in December because he’s expected to face a tune-up level opponent. But when Brook does start fighting good opposition again, he needs to seriously consider moving back down to 147. He’s not big enough or talented enough to compete with the elite level junior middleweights. One would hate to see what Tony Harrison, Jermell Charlo, Erislandy Lara or Jarrett Hurd would do to Brook.
Dillian Whyte may fight in December says Hearn
“Yeah, he could fight tomorrow,” said Hearn about Dillian Whyte in talking to Thaboxingvoice. “I still want UKAD to issue a statement, but our hands are tied frustratingly by a process, but there’s no reason why he can’t fight. He was cleared to fight on that July 20th card. He’s not suspended, he’s not banned, and he’s not anything. So he can fight, and he may do so by the end of December,” said Hearn about Whyte.
If UKAD still hasn’t released the results of Whyte’s B-sample by December, there’s going to be a lot of suspicious boxing fans wondering what’s going on. For Whyte’s sake, hopefully UKAD reads the results and makes an announcement about the testing. It would be bad if this is done in secrecy without people knowing about it.
With Hearn talking about Whyte fighting at the end of December, that means he won’t be sticking him on the Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. 2 undercard on December 7. Perhaps it’s just as well. Having Whyte on the card, without his B-sample having been read by UKAD, would be a distraction.
Billy Joe Saunders to get a big fight in 2020
“I think he’s in the mix in all those fights,” said Hearn about Billy Joe Saunders being in the running for fights against Gennady Golovkin and Saul Canelo Alvarez. “I think he has to get passed [Marcelo Esteban] Coceres, and then his next fight has to be against GGG, Canelo, Callum Smith, Demetrius Andrade or Danny Jacobs. So there are huge fights coming for Billy in 2020,” said Hearn.
It’s unlikely that WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders will get fights against Canelo or Golovkin. Saunders isn’t a big enough name in the United States for it to be worth it for GGG or Canelo to fight him. Moreover, Saunders chose not to fight Demetrius Andrade, and that would have been the biggest fight of his career by far. It’s more likely that Saunders will face Callum or Jacobs in 2020.
Saunders (28-0, 13 KOs) is defending his WBO super middleweight title next month against little known Marcelo Esteban Coceres (28-0-1, 15 KOs) on November 9 on the undercard of KSI vs. Logan Paul. The fight will be shown on DAZN, and is taking place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
It’s a mystery why Saunders is fighting Coceres rather than a quality opponent. This has become a trend with Saunders in facing mediocre opposition unfortunately. Recently, he won the WBO 168-lb title in beating Shefat Isufi for the belt. Saunders could have chosen to fight one of the talented champions at super middleweight, but instead fought for the vacated WBO belt against Isufi. In Saunder’s last five fights, he’s fought these very beatable fighters:
- Shefat Isufi
- Charles Adamu
- Willie Monroe Jr.
- David Lemieux
- Artur Akavov
