Kell Brook is Reluctant To Vacate The IBF Title, Says Hearn

By Edward Chaykovsky

For the moment, Kell Brook (36-1, 25KOs) is holding on to his IBF welterweight championship, according to the fighter's promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport.

Last Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, Brook moved up by two weight divisions to challenge IBF/WBA/IBO/WBC middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (36-0, 33KOs).

Brook put up a respectable effort, but eventually he was stopped in the fifth round.

After the fight, Brook made statements to BoxingScene.com that he was likely dropping down to the junior middleweight division and NOT returning to the welterweight limit of 147-pounds.

That may not be case, says Hearn.

"As far as Kell is concerned, he is still the IBF world welterweight champion and is reluctant to vacate that belt unless he gets a mega-fight in another division," Hearn told Daily Mail.

If Brook squeezes back down to the welterweight limit, he is obligated to make a mandatory defense against unbeaten Olympian Errol Spence.

The IBF has given Brook a 10 day deadline to make a decision regarding Spence. By next week there should be a clearer picture on what Brook plans to do.

Brook suffered a fractured right eye socket during his loss to Golovkin. He may submit a request for more time with the IBF.

"As it stands, he needs to heal. We will find out this week if he will have surgery or whether it is better to recovery naturally. We will wait and see. In the meantime, he has been really down about the defeat , but that is his winning mentality. Knowing him like I do, this will only make him stronger," Hearn said.

 Brook is looking to secure the biggest fight possible when he returns. The three names being mentioned include Canelo Alvarez, Amir Khan and Miguel Cotto. Among the three, Khan is the only option at welterweight. To fight any of the three, Brook will likely have to drop his IBF belt.

"There is already interest from HBO in a fight between Canelo Alvarez and Kell next May. That’s a fight Kell would absolutely love and he has said so to me. Common sense would also suggest that the fight Britain wants to see with Amir Khan should also be possible. Then there’s Miguel Cotto, which would be a huge fight. They are the three main ones we are looking at for his comeback. We want to go straight into a big one," Hearn said.