Kell Brook Latest (Dec 19)

[Ruthless-RKO]

‘Real Kell Brook would have dealt with Errol Spence,’ says Special K

A rejuvenated Kell Brook regrets fighting Errol Spence Jr in his next fight after GGG Gennady Golovkin

It now looks as if Kell Brook will return early in the New Year from what has been a year on the shelf. Back in the Ingle gym, his spiritual home, and all the happier for it, Brook is training hard on a daily basis and believes he has enough in the tank for one last run at the highest level. He has also found time to reflect on the loss of his IBF welterweight title back in 2017, ceding the strap to Errol Spence just eight months after an ill-fated trip to 160lbs that saw him fall to GGG Gennady Golovkin. The consecutive defeats – the only ones on Brook’s ledger – saw him fracture one of his eye sockets in each fight. Going in with Spence straight after the Kazakh is a move Brook now laments.

“Looking back now, obviously I regret it a lot,” he told me. “Everyone thought I’d give that title up, I actually got offered six figures to give it up. But I earned it… all the pullouts of [former champion] Devon Alexander [when Brook was mandatory], all the struggle to get hold of it. I remember a conversation with Eddie, where he said, ‘You should think about giving it up,’ but I wanted to defend it. Looking back now I should have vacated because I went up two weight divisions, put a lot of muscle on, didn’t train for a bit, put more weight on, then I was crunching it all off for welterweight. I got in there and it was what it was.

“The real Kell Brook would have dealt with Spence; I already dealt with Shawn Porter when he was more hungry than when he pushed Spence and he was in his prime. It messed me up fighting GGG, putting muscle on then draining back down; that camp were atrocious. Nobody has beat Errol the way I was up until my eye went. I still got to the 11th round and that was a shell of what I was.”

Brook has not been seen in the ring since labouring to a decision win over Michael Zerafa at the end of last year. In his only fight employing friend John Fewkes as trainer, Brook got the job done on a difficult night against an unheralded opponent who has since upset Jeff Horn. Moving back to Dominic Ingle at the facility he first entered aged nine, and working alongside some new gym-mates, has reinvigorated the 33-year-old Sheffielder.

“There is a different feel these days because I’m not the king of the gym anymore,” Brook mused. “Barry [Kid Galahad], Willie Hutchinson, Liam Williams, Billy Joe Saunders, we’re all pushing each other on. I can just train and sneak out the gym, whereas before everyone just seemed to be around me but now there are so many characters, I can just do my thing, follow my programme. Everyone’s got time slots, we get trained one on one and it’s working out well.
“Me and Billie are on the same page. We are different characters, but me and Billy are at a certain level of our careers then some of these young up-and-coming lads want to prove a point and get respect against us. There are different personalities and you need that. I’m in a great place, weight-wise but it’s all about peaking for fight night.”

[Ezzard]

I never understood Kell's tactics in the Golovkin fight. He has great timing, good speed and enough pop to keep Golovkin honest. I thought he'd box and move. Instead it looked like he actually thought he could win by stoppage.

If Kell had looked to steal 7 or 8 rounds and crawl over the finish line he may have had a chance. GGG may well have got him anyway but Kell could not have used worse tactics in that fight.

[MarkMcBurney]

I can't be the only one a bit bored by Kell Brook's career. Before becoming champion he had all the potential in the world to achieve genuine greatness, but ever since becoming champ his career has just stagnated. I was genuinely excited to have him mixing with the best the division had to offer, but what we have had is a succession of absolute crap mandatory challengers and defences against the likes of Frankie Gavin. No disrespect to Frankie at all, I used to love watching him, but he had never done anything to warrant a title shot.

Instead we have seen an unmotivated and unfit Brook over the last few years. He had ballooned in weight between fights (as seen in his cameo for Journeyman) and he appeared to have priced himself out of the Khan fight while supposedly chasing Pacquiao blah blah blah.

I know he had the horrific stabbing incident, has that thrown him mentally? The fighter that everyone was excited about when he was facing Shawn Porter has done nothing of note other than get beaten up by a fighter two divisions higher than him, and get his other eye busted on his return to his weight division.

His best win since becoming champion is......Senchenko?! That cash out against Golovkin spelled the beginning of the end it seems. Ridiculous career decision looking back.

Come on. Stop coming out with all these nonsense quotes now about what you would have done two-and-a-half years ago, and get back in the ring and prove your worth.

The Khan fight has clearly passed its sell-by date (and had a couple of years ago to be fair), sadly Kell Brook's career appears to be heading the same way.

[Ruthless-RKO]

His best win since becoming champion is......Senchenko?! That cash out against Golovkin spelled the beginning of the end it seems. Ridiculous career decision looking back.

He fought Senchenko before winning the IBF belt.

[MarkMcBurney]

His best win since becoming champion is......Senchenko?! That cash out against Golovkin spelled the beginning of the end it seems. Ridiculous career decision looking back.

He fought Senchenko before winning the IBF belt.

Shit I meant Rabchenko

[keirw]

He fought Senchenko before winning the IBF belt.

poo I meant Rabchenko

The Rabchenka win was another false dawn in his career, it looked like he could be a force at Light middle and possibly become two weight champion.

Yet since then he has one uninspiring win over a fringe contender and is still talking about Khan as if anyone gives a sh#t about that fight anymore.

[Ruthless-RKO]

poo I meant Rabchenko

The Rabchenka win was another false dawn in his career, it looked like he could be a force at Light middle and possibly become two weight champion.

Yet since then he has one uninspiring win over a fringe contender and is still talking about Khan as if anyone gives a sh#t about that fight anymore.

Then he came in 150 against Zerafa to prove to Khan he can weigh less than 154..

A heard earned decision it was.

[KiwiRider]

The Rabchenka win was another false dawn in his career, it looked like he could be a force at Light middle and possibly become two weight champion.

Yet since then he has one uninspiring win over a fringe contender and is still talking about Khan as if anyone gives a sh#t about that fight anymore.

Then he came in 150 against Zerafa to prove to Khan he can weigh less than 154..

A heard earned decision it was.

People underestimated Zerafa. Brook was one of them. Look at what Pretty Boy did to Horn.

[Old bones Ian]

I think once some better paychecks went into his account he lost the motivation, it can be hard to maintain the level needed.

[PredatorHayds]

The decision to take the GGG fight was the turning point in his career.

He got a good pay cheque but received a bad injury.
Looked good against Spence but again injury’s spoiled the party.

The GGG experiment failed.

Khan has lived in his head rent free for years. If Khan didn’t fight Canelo I don’t think Brook would of entertained the GGG fight.

The Khan/Brook saga gets compared to the Hatton/Witter saga. Easy to see who the ‘winners’ are.

[coneye]

Brooks ,, could'nt care less ,, he's after another big payday and will talk the talk and forget to do the walk

[Tuan_Jim]

40 fights and all he has to show for it is a close nod over Shawn Porter--a win that lost much of its lustre when Spence beat him, having also beaten Brook.

Credit to Kell for the kamikaze Golovkin challenge, but it doesn't seem like he made the most of the talent that God gifted him.

[margaret thatcher]

40 fights and all he has to show for it is a close nod over Shawn Porter--a win that lost much of its lustre when Spence beat him, having also beaten Brook.

Credit to Kell for the kamikaze Golovkin challenge, but it doesn't seem like he made the most of the talent that God gifted him.

He was still right in there with a good shot to win that GGG fight until that awful stoppage wasn't he?

[keirw]

The Rabchenka win was another false dawn in his career, it looked like he could be a force at Light middle and possibly become two weight champion.

Yet since then he has one uninspiring win over a fringe contender and is still talking about Khan as if anyone gives a sh#t about that fight anymore.

Then he came in 150 against Zerafa to prove to Khan he can weigh less than 154..

A heard earned decision it was.

It seems Khan has had more say over Kell's career than Hearn and Warren combined.

[Tuan_Jim]

40 fights and all he has to show for it is a close nod over Shawn Porter--a win that lost much of its lustre when Spence beat him, having also beaten Brook.

Credit to Kell for the kamikaze Golovkin challenge, but it doesn't seem like he made the most of the talent that God gifted him.

He was still right in there with a good shot to win that GGG fight until that awful stoppage wasn't he?

It was over three years ago mate so I'll have to take your word for it

[fizzjambo]

The decision to to step up in place of Eubank and take on Golovkin was career suicide, especially after the succession of very poor defences that were trotted out beforehand. Following the night he won the title the management of his career has been very questionable

[ALI]

I think once some better paychecks went into his account he lost the motivation, it can be hard to maintain the level needed.

Most probably. I think this scenario affects many fighters from our shores. Look at Calzaghe as the most obvious example, such a phenominal talent from early on in his career, yet it took him the best part of 15 years to challenge the elite and even then he did so reservedly, IMO. Money, having earned plenty of it, must have a dampening affect on some fighters motivation to take on the biggest challenges.

[Old bones Ian]

I think once some better paychecks went into his account he lost the motivation, it can be hard to maintain the level needed.

Most probably. I think this scenario affects many fighters from our shores. Look at Calzaghe as the most obvious example, such a phenominal talent from early on in his career, yet it took him the best part of 15 years to challenge the elite and even then he did so reservedly, IMO. Money, having earned plenty of it, must have a dampening affect on some fighters motivation to take on the biggest challenges.

Some of it is big fish small pond, both Brook and Witter had disappointing championship reigns, hard fights to win the title and then very low key defenses , led to not being in top shape when facing an actual good boxer

[Ruthless-RKO]

Kell Brook Expected To Make Ring Return in February

Kell Brook is expected to return to the ring in February as the former IBF welterweight champion looks to rebuild his career after a blank 2019.

The Yorkshireman has not boxed since December last year when he had a tougher-than-expected time against Michael Zerafa in Sheffield, before claiming a unanimous points decision.

At that time, he had seemed likely to face his old rival, Amir Khan, but when Khan decided to face Terence Crawford instead, Brook was left without an obvious fight. He had been expected to return on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s first fight with Andy Ruiz Jr in New York in June, but when that fell through, the 33-year-old was left denying reports that he was about to retire.

Rumours that he would box in Saudi Arabia on the Joshua-Ruiz rematch undercard came to nothing.

But Eddie Hearn, the promoter, said that Book will be on his first big show of 2020.

“We are looking for Kell Brook to get out in early February,” Hearn said.

Although he still holds a ranking of No 11 with the WBC, having been inactive for more than 12 months, Brook will need to fight in order to regain a ranking with the other organisations to potentially push him towards another world title shot. A fight with Amir Khan would remain possible, although it would be worth nothing like its value was 2-3 years ago.