Kell Brook starts training camp: Is Conor Benn next?

By Boxing News - 03/20/2023 - Comments

By Jake Tiernan: Kell Brook has started training camp for a still-to-be-determined opponent. Brook’s nutritionist Greg Marriot posted on social media, with Kell saying, “Massive, massive news coming.

While that could mean that Brook is facing someone else, it’s possible that he could be the comeback opponent for welterweight contender Conor Benn,  who is planning on returning to the ring after a year of inactivity.

The former IBF 147-lb champion Brook (40-3, 28 KOs) is eager to be the opponent for Benn (21-0, 14 KOs) as long as Conor’s promoter Eddie Hearn shows him the “Benjamins” and pays him “mega” money fight for the fight.

Hearn said last weekend that Brook would only be good for a domestic-level fight rather than world. As a result, Hearn felt that the recently knocked out Chris Eubank Jr was a better option, which fans felt was odd because Benn-Eubank wouldn’t likely sell outside of the UK. American fans aren’t going to order Benn vs. Eubank Jr or Brook on PPV.

Brook’s career has been in the dumpster ever since he was bludgeoned by Gennadiy Golovkin in give rounds in September 2016. After that defeat, Brook was stopped by Errol Spence in his next fight and then Terence Crawford in 2020.

Some boxing fans believe Golovkin ruined Brook, but it’s more likely the case that he was never that good, to begin with. The huge money that Brook was given to him in his fights against Golovkin and Spence appears to have sapped whatever ambition he once had. After that, Brook took it easy, rarely fighting, and seeming like a semi-retired fighter.

“Conor has been putting a few things out there, back & forth, me and him. Listen, I’m up for this. If his boss, Eddie [Hearn], wants to get in touch with me and pay me the massive mega [money], I’ll come out of retirement, baby. I’ll come out of retirement and show your boy how to do it,” said Kell Brook to Boxing King Media last week about him being eager to fight Conor Benn for mega-money.

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“He knows what happened in that sparring session. He’s trying to prod & push at me,” Brook said about his sparring session with Benn. “You know what happened in that sparring session.

“We were supposed to do 10 rounds, and he got out after 8 rounds, saying his shoulder was hurt because I was bringing the heat. He didn’t want to be in that fire. He wanted to get out. He knows what happened. Simms knows what happened, his trainer.

“My dad knows what happened. He was there. Listen, forget sparring. Eddie [Hearn], come see me and we’ll have a discussion. If it makes sense for me and I get that mojo back because at the minute, I’m just a retired, keep-fitter.

“I will get those gloves back on we will dance as long as those Benjamins arrive. You know where I’m at in Sheffield. Eddie has got my number. If we sit down and I get excited. You’ve got to excite me, Eddie, because I’ve got my slippers on now. I’ll take my slippers off, put my running shoes back on, and I’ll show your boy what time it is,” said Brook.