By Charles Brun: Kell Brook wants to come out of retirement to fight 44-year-old Manny Pacquiao in what trainer Dominic Ingle feels would be another “money-making scheme” for a fighter with more than enough.
Brook is restless with his retirement and wants to return to the ring. Choosing the retired superstar Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) would give the 36-year-old Kell a big payday.
While Ingle believes Brook has enough youth left to defeat the past his prime Pacquiao, he doesn’t think it’s a good idea for either fighter. Neither of them needs to take punishment at their ages, according to Ingle.
Brook(40-3, 28 KOs) last fought a year ago, stopping the shopworn semi-retired Amir Khan in the sixth round in a fight that was a money venture. Khan was way over-the-hill, and most of the interest boxing fans once had in seeing this fight was gone.
Promoter Ben Shalom says that Brook wants to fight the winner of the Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Liam Smith II rematch, which will be taking place in May or June.
Brook’s career has been on the slide since his back-to-back stoppage losses to Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr in 2016 & 2017. Whether it be the money or the eye injuries that wrecked Brook’s once-promising career is unclear.
More likely it was a combination of the two because Brook made a lot of money from those two fights, and the eye injuries didn’t help.
Does Kell Brook deserves Pacquiao fight?
“Obviously it would be competitive,”Ben Shalom said to Sky Sports about a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Kell Brook if it happens.
“It would be a great fight for Kell, to be honest, a good celebration of his career, which he deserves. But I don’t know how serious Manny is anymore.
“I do know Kell was talking about one more fight and has been asking about the [Liam] Smith-[Chris] Eubank situation, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the ring.
“I think he’d be very interested in the winner of Chris against Liam,” said Shalom.
“I don’t think it would be a good idea for Kell to box again. I don’t think he needs to box again,” said Dominic Ingle to Boxing King Media. “What is Manny Pacquiao, 44 or 45? It’s just another money-making scheme, isn’t it?
“They’ve both got enough money. Kell has got enough money, and Manny Pacquiao has got enough money. So who needs the money? Realistically, Kell is going to be 37 this year. Why does he need to be getting pushed around the head at 37?
What does Kell have to prove?
“What have you got to prove? Beating Manny Pacquiao, and I think Kell would beat him because I don’t care what anybody says. Manny Pacquiao has had a lot of hard fights,” said Ingle.
“Look at the performances he had when he was 35 compared to now. He’s not the fighter he once was. He can’t be. He worked on speed and power, and that’s all gone. Yeah, it’s the same thing for Kell Brook, but Brook is 37. It’s eight years’ difference.
“He’s probably got more in the tank than Pacquiao, but it’s a bit like Bernard Hopkins at 40 years old being a world champion, and then at 50, he got done in by Joe Smith Jr. Realistically, Kell shouldn’t be having a fight against Manny Pacquiao. Manny wants to pack it in and call it a day.
“It’s not the age to be fighting at 45. The weight divisions and the fights he’s been through. The headshots he’s had, the falling on his face against [Juan Manuel] Marquez that time. It’s all going to add up. It’s like what my dad says.
“He’ll be blowing bubbles in his career, and it will be. What’s the point of earning all that money, especially in the Philippines, where Manny Pacquiao is from? He’s the top man. What does he need to prove?
“He’s going to end up in a wheelchair and fed with a pipe up his nose. That’s what’s going to happen if he keeps carrying on doing that kind of stuff, without a doubt.
“Spend money treating the addition,” said Ingle when told by the interviewer that Pacquiao had a gambling problem. “What is boxing going to solve? Is having another fight going to pay off debts that he has to pay off? If he’s going to have another fight to pay off gambling debts. What will be the point of all he’s done?
“The only gambling you need to do as a boxer is get in that ring. That’s the gamble, and that’s the calculated gamble. So why would you need to gamble anything else when you’ve got loads of money, why would you need to take any other gamble?
“When you’re a good boxer at Manny Pacquiao’s level, you’ve got a 99% chance of winning. So that’s a good guaranteed win. So why go and play cards or machines? Why? Where are the people around him saying, ‘Don’t do this?” said Ingle.