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It is bad. Dang. I feel bad for this guy. 5-10 years ago this guy looked super, super talented. Not talking hype, but genuinely talented. I feel that he was a victim of Anthony Joshua's success.
Kell was a beast and switched from Frank Warren to Eddie Hearn. Everyone in Britain was in agreement that he was a World champion in the making. He was the best fighter in the Matchroom stable. But as soon as AJ came along he took a backseat, and getting him his shot became less of a priority.
From 2014, it's as though Brook became more of a side quest for Matchroom. When he won that IBF title against Shawn Porter, he finally reached the status that the majority had been expecting for years. It was more of a "what took so long?" than anything else. From there he should have pushed on and looked for the big fights, or moved up to Super Welterweight. At least should have established himself Stateside.
But again, at a time when AJ was blasting through journeymen, and capturing the IBF title off Charles Martin, Brook fought some of the softest opposition available, on small shows with poor supporting cards. The best card he fought on also had Selby-Gradovich and Linares-Mitchell, but Brook's opponent was Frankie Gavin!
Kell had been struggling to make the weight since before the first Carson Jones fight, it was no secret. He should have moved up soon after capturing the World title. But fighting Gennady Golovkin, at Middleweight was career suicide. I still cannot fathom why Eddie Hearn fed Brook to Golovkin. It is almost like he wanted rid of him.
At 30 years old, 36-0 (25 KO), the IBF World Welterweight champion, Brook should have been looking to step up to Super Welterweight/Light Middleweight and position himself for a title shot there. At the time Jermell Charlo held the WBC, Jermall Charlo the IBF, Liam Smith the WBO, and Erislandy Lara the WBA World. Would have made more sense having Canelo vs. GGG then, and Brook vs. Smith. But instead we got Canelo vs. Smith and GGG vs. Brook.
Brook shouldn't have fought GGG, no other way to say it. Fighting Errol Spence 9 months later, in his comeback fight, fresh off surgery to fix a broke eye socket, in a division 13lb below his last fight, when he'd struggled to make that weight for years, again another WTF moment. Spence was pretty unknown in the UK, but still, Brook had no business returning to Welterweight after moving up to Middleweight.
In interviews Hearn would say "Well... if he wants to go back to Welterweight, what can I do?" Smirking all the while. After almost getting retired by GGG in a fight he never should have took, he should have taken a year out, vacated his IBF belt, and looked to come back at Super Welter. Not rush back against a young killer like Spence at a weight he can barely make. Madness.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Brook is shot now and took life-altering damage in both of those fights. When he retires as a one-time Welterweight champion of the World, it almost feels like he didn't fulfill his potential. Seeing him flatten Amir Khan was also a mouth-watering prospect, but even that now looks like it won't happen. At this point there's no guarentee he'd beat Khan if they end up fighting. It really is a shame, because a lot of people had great expectations when it came to Kell Brook.
Kell was a beast and switched from Frank Warren to Eddie Hearn. Everyone in Britain was in agreement that he was a World champion in the making. He was the best fighter in the Matchroom stable. But as soon as AJ came along he took a backseat, and getting him his shot became less of a priority.
From 2014, it's as though Brook became more of a side quest for Matchroom. When he won that IBF title against Shawn Porter, he finally reached the status that the majority had been expecting for years. It was more of a "what took so long?" than anything else. From there he should have pushed on and looked for the big fights, or moved up to Super Welterweight. At least should have established himself Stateside.
But again, at a time when AJ was blasting through journeymen, and capturing the IBF title off Charles Martin, Brook fought some of the softest opposition available, on small shows with poor supporting cards. The best card he fought on also had Selby-Gradovich and Linares-Mitchell, but Brook's opponent was Frankie Gavin!
Kell had been struggling to make the weight since before the first Carson Jones fight, it was no secret. He should have moved up soon after capturing the World title. But fighting Gennady Golovkin, at Middleweight was career suicide. I still cannot fathom why Eddie Hearn fed Brook to Golovkin. It is almost like he wanted rid of him.
At 30 years old, 36-0 (25 KO), the IBF World Welterweight champion, Brook should have been looking to step up to Super Welterweight/Light Middleweight and position himself for a title shot there. At the time Jermell Charlo held the WBC, Jermall Charlo the IBF, Liam Smith the WBO, and Erislandy Lara the WBA World. Would have made more sense having Canelo vs. GGG then, and Brook vs. Smith. But instead we got Canelo vs. Smith and GGG vs. Brook.
Brook shouldn't have fought GGG, no other way to say it. Fighting Errol Spence 9 months later, in his comeback fight, fresh off surgery to fix a broke eye socket, in a division 13lb below his last fight, when he'd struggled to make that weight for years, again another WTF moment. Spence was pretty unknown in the UK, but still, Brook had no business returning to Welterweight after moving up to Middleweight.
In interviews Hearn would say "Well... if he wants to go back to Welterweight, what can I do?" Smirking all the while. After almost getting retired by GGG in a fight he never should have took, he should have taken a year out, vacated his IBF belt, and looked to come back at Super Welter. Not rush back against a young killer like Spence at a weight he can barely make. Madness.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Brook is shot now and took life-altering damage in both of those fights. When he retires as a one-time Welterweight champion of the World, it almost feels like he didn't fulfill his potential. Seeing him flatten Amir Khan was also a mouth-watering prospect, but even that now looks like it won't happen. At this point there's no guarentee he'd beat Khan if they end up fighting. It really is a shame, because a lot of people had great expectations when it came to Kell Brook.
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