Hearn Sees Brook Return By Mid-2017 - Eyes Canelo, Khan Fights

By Edward Chaykovsky

Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport is expecting IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25KOs) to return to the ring by next spring.

Brook was in action on Saturday night, when he suffered a fifth round stoppage loss at the hands of IBO/WBA/WBC/IBF middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin at the O2 Arena in London.

During the fight Brook suffered a fractured orbital bone around his right eye. He had surgery for the injury on Monday.

For the fight with Golovkin, Brook jumped up by thirteen pounds from 147 to 160. Brook plans to settle down in the junior middleweight limit of 154-pounds once he returns.

"He's never experienced defeat and that's hurt him quite badly, let alone the broken eye socket," Hearn told Sky Sports News HQ. "He'll be popping into the hospital in Sheffield for a little operation. It's nothing too major and it should mean he'll still probably return next spring or summer, which is about the time he would have been looking to fight again anyway."

"The injury was painful but I think the defeat was more painful. I'm just pleased he came out of the fight with no serious injuries because if an injury like that progresses during the fight it can get worse and worse and could have affected his career long-term."

As far as the opponents, Hearn is still very interested in matching him against Amir Khan, who himself was knocked out in five rounds back in May after jumping up by nearly two weight divisions to face Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez. And Canelo is the second fighter who Hearn would like to see Brook face. Canelo will defend his title this coming Saturday night against WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith.

“I can see him [Brook] returning to light-middleweight – there are some huge fights out there for him,” said Hearn. “There is the Canelo fight, the Amir Khan fight should have happened a dozen times and hasn’t – maybe they feel it is the right time for that – there are other world champions out there at light-middleweight."