Team Porter Worried Kell Brook May Pull Out Again

By Ryan Burton

August 9th has been mentioned as a tentative date for Shawn Porter's second defense of his IBF welterweight title against his mandatory challenger Kell Brook. The fight is scheduled to take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY and will be televised on Showtime.

Brook, who is from the UK, has been the mandatory challenger for over 18 months and has had fights against the previous champion Devon Alexander scheduled and postponed three times. Brook pulled out twice with injuries while Alexander pulled out once for the same reason.

Porter's father and trainer Ken is hopeful that history doesn't repeat itself and that the fight comes to fruition.

"You know I am somewhat concerned about that. I just said to somebody the other day that I am concerned that this guy has had situations before and you go through a whole entire camp and he pulls out at the last minute and you can't get a replacement. That is a concern. We need to sign contracts so we can move forward but yes that is a concern," Porter revealed.

Porter took it a step further and said that if Brook pulls out for any reason that the IBF should strip him of his mandatory status and let another challenger get a shot at the champion.

"I also feel that if anything happens this time he shouldn't remain the mandatory. I don't know how he's maintained it this long with the amount of times he has pulled out of fights regardless of the situations," Porter told BoxingScene.com.

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