By Elisinio Castillo
According to sources in Argentina, tough contender Diego Chaves (23-2-1, 19KOs) is going to challenge IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (35-0, 24KOs) on October 24th in Sheffield, England.
Chaves has been out of the ring since going to a twelve round draw against current WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley last December in Las Vegas. Prior to that, he was disqualified in the ninth round of a bout against Brandon Rios. Chaves was ahead in the scorecards at the time of the stoppage and some felt the disqualification was unjust.
Given his layoff, a fight with Brook will be a very tough task indeed.
For Brook, it would be his third fight of the year and his third defense of the IBF title that he captured last August from Shawn Porter. Brook stopped Jo Jo Dan in four rounds in March and then returned in May to stop Frankie Gavin in six. Chaves has only been stopped once in his career, when Keith Thurman put him away in the tenth round of their exciting contest.
The reports of Chaves being the opponent comes as a surprise, because his team recently reached a deal to face Devon Alexander in a final IBF welterweight eliminator. A purse bid was actually set and later called off because the two sides reached an agreement.
But if Chaves can get a direct shot and avoid an eliminator, it would be a mirror image of what happened with Gavin - who was ordered to face Tim Bradley in an IBF eliminator and instead sidestepped the eliminator for a direct shot at Brook.
Brook's promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport, is expected to announce Brook's opponent this week.