Why do people talk about Kell Brook like he's an established force?

[LacedUp]

That was one of my predicted upsets last year. Felt good to get it right.

Looking back it's funny that every so-called expert picked Porter, isn't it?

I think Brook bested him in every area, even physical strength which was supposed to be Porter's biggest asset.

Such a great night.

[gmc_rfc_06]

Yep, reading the Porter-Brook thread back is pretty great.

I still read that from time to time, and I can still be in complete disbelief at the amount of people picking Porter to dominate and win by early KO....just hilarious.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Khan had a massive hype machine behind him when he turned pro. When he came on the scene for his debut he was pretty much the biggest name in British boxing already, maybe only second to Ricky Hatton or Joe Calzaghe. His first fight was in front of 20k people if I'm not mistaken. It's hard to explain to someone who wasn't there, but the anticipation for Khan's career was immense. People genuinely believed that he could be the guy. The next Oscar dela Hoya if you will.

Therefore, a lot of money was put into his career and a lot of money was put forward to rush his career. He got opportunities to fight for the commonwealth, british and world title belts at a very young age because he was Amir Khan, Olympic superstar. Meanwhile, Kell Brook was a guy fighting in leisure centers against journeymen because there was hardly any interest in him.

People say Kell Brook had the easy way up, but they got that all mixed up. It was him who had the hard way up, struggling for recognition.

Brook didn't have it "the easy way" but he is certainly not some sob story where he didn't get any opportunities or was held back.

There was certainly hype around Brook when he was younger, being a student of the Ingle Gym and he had some spectacular early performances. The problem with Brook is that he was never a disciplined athlete and that was his own doing. He has been presented with plenty opportunities which he has either turned down or pulled out of "injured".

There's no way a boxer of his talent should have taken 30+ fights to get in the ring for a world title and it wasn't some hard luck story. It was largely because of his own misgivings....of which he seemingly hasn't completely shaken.

[-PBP-]

He just beat Porter who people was calling for Floyd to fight. Brook is legit..

[LacedUp]

Brook didn't have it "the easy way" but he is certainly not some sob story where he didn't get any opportunities or was held back.

There was certainly hype around Brook when he was younger, being a student of the Ingle Gym and he had some spectacular early performances. The problem with Brook is that he was never a disciplined athlete and that was his own doing. He has been presented with plenty opportunities which he has either turned down or pulled out of "injured".

There's no way a boxer of his talent should have taken 30+ fights to get in the ring for a world title and it wasn't some hard luck story. It was largely because of his own misgivings....of which he seemingly hasn't completely shaken.

Well, that's just not true in my opinion. Especially in comparison to Khan. I do remember when Kell Brook came through, and of course people inside boxing knew he was a talent, but half of his first 20 fights weren't even televised. He was a talented fighter, but he was never put into the public eye the same way Amir Khan was so there simply wasn't good money to put forward to good opponents.

I agree it shouldn't take that long, but he was largely neglected by his promoter for the first 4-5 years of his career.

Own misgivings? Come on. Don't tell me you think he ducked Devon Alexander. haha.

[STREET CLEANER]

Typical British hype. He looks solid with good technic but his resume has to improve.

I was critical of him but did like the patience he showed in his title winning fight

[LacedUp]

Typical British hype. He looks solid with good technic but his resume has to improve.

I was critical of him but did like the patience he showed in his title winning fight

It wasn't us Brits talking about Porter beating Mayweather

Typical yank hype .

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Well, that's just not true in my opinion. Especially in comparison to Khan. I do remember when Kell Brook came through, and of course people inside boxing knew he was a talent, but half of his first 20 fights weren't even televised. He was a talented fighter, but he was never put into the public eye the same way Amir Khan was so there simply wasn't good money to put forward to good opponents.

I agree it shouldn't take that long, but he was largely neglected by his promoter for the first 4-5 years of his career.

Own misgivings? Come on. Don't tell me you think he ducked Devon Alexander. haha.

Khan won an Olympic Medal as the UK's only competitor. When he turned pro, he got things "the easy way" because he earned it.

I am 100% certain that at least one of the times Brook pulled out against Alexander wasn't because of an injury and Eddie Hearn said as much in an interview. He had other offers which he knocked back under Warren too.

Are you denying that Kell Brook has been less than a committed and disciplined athlete? Come on, I'm a fan but I've known for years that he's not been fully committed to the job. This idea that he is some hard luck story is a fallacy. The man has been stabbed twice.....stabbed....TWICE.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

It wasn't us Brits talking about Porter beating Mayweather

Typical yank hype .

He was one of those saying Brook wouldn't fight Porter....

[LacedUp]

Khan won an Olympic Medal as the UK's only competitor. When he turned pro, he got things "the easy way" because he earned it.

I am 100% certain that at least one of the times he pulled out against Alexander wasn't because of an injury and Eddie Hearn said as much in an interview. He had other offers which he knocked back under Warren too.

Are you denying that Kell Brook has been less than a committed and disciplined athlete? Come on, I'm a fan but I've known for years that he's not been fully committed to the job. This idea that he is some hard luck story is a fallacy. The man has been stabbed twice.....stabbed....TWICE.

I'm not saying Khan had it easy, no upbringing in boxing is easy and especially after bouncing back from a devastating 1st round KO defeat, he's obviously done very well.

I'm just not sure whether or not you earn a great promotional ride in the pros just because you were an excellent amateur. But it is granted that Khan would have more of a hype machine behind him. Look at Dylan White vs Anthony Joshua for example.

I think Brook definitely had an ankle injury, then Alexander pulled out with a torn bicep or whatever, and by that time Brook had been in straight training for so long that he couldn't fight. I think that was it. I don't for one second believe it had anything to do with Alexander at all.

I think he was offered $500k for a bradley fight in 2012 which included 2/3 options and co-promoting deals. Obviously doesn't make sense when you're scheduled to face a final eliminator just two months later and you're looking at a similar sort of purse for that as well as being a free agent. That was obviously before he got injured vs Alexander.

No, I'm definitely agreeing with Brook not being a consumate professional. Hopefully, this was the last time. But it's not just the stabbing, he's been drinking too much, missed weight, had to cut weight etc.

Probably all stems from the fact that he was brought up as that sort of fighter and not a fighter destined for world honours (promotionally). I mean, he didn't even get a nutritionist before after the Carson Jones fight. As big as Brook is, I mean, that's just ridiculous.