Brook believes he has more left
Published:
Kell not thinking about retirement
Former welterweight world champion Kell Brook must be the unluckiest man in boxing. The 31-year-old from Sheffield has lost each of his last two fights, both by stoppage – suffering a broken eye socket in each contest.
Special K, unbeaten champion of the world at the time, made an ill-advised move up to middleweight – that’s two divisions from his usual category – to fight the all-conquering star of the show, Gennady Golovkin. In a gamble that could only have been for the pay-day, the Englishman’s carefully thought out hit-and-move tactics came to nothing.
Golovkin fight went as expected
If you didn’t see the fight with Golovkin, the best way to describe it is a middleweight against a welterweight, with the night going exactly how critics said it would. The beaten man was retired by his corner in the fifth round, when it became obvious all was not right. It was later announced Brook had suffered a broken eye socket. GGG boasts an 89 per cent KO average for good reason.
Moving back down to welter, Kell gave his injuries, and pride, plenty of time to heal, before returning to the ring to face unbeaten American Errol Spence Jr on an open-air show at Bramall Lane, defending the IBF welterweight strap. The weight of public opinion was, once more, dead against him, as were the pre-fight betting odds, which turned out to be a shrewd judgement call.
What next for Brook?
Kell Brook was beaten into submission by a real classy opponent in Spence, dropped in the 10th and 11th rounds. He took a knee and didn’t come out fighting after that. Retired, beaten and – what’s worse – there were reports of more eye damage, this time on the other side. So, what now for the man who once ruled at 147lbs?
With the bones in his face smashed, confidence at rock-bottom, and looking well out of the title picture, is this the end for Kell Brook? British fight fans have loved every minute of his career to date, from the days of stopping Kevin McIntyre in a round for the British title back in 2008, to going over to American and into the lion’s den to dethrone Shawn Porter. Not too many British boxers go stateside and come back with their opponent’s belt. Brook did it, and with plenty to spare.
Ingle doesn’t think he’ll retire
Understandably, there’s not been an awful lot out of the camp since that loss, other than to explain the eye socket injury, but trainer Dominic Ingle was quick to jump to his man’s defence, following a barrage of mindless abuse from the clueless and hopeless of social media. With the less intelligent out there branding Brook a quitter, Ingle explained to Sky Sports a surgeon had told them before the fight that any further damage to his eye could result in a permanent loss of vision.
Retirement would, perhaps, be the best option for the boxer’s safety, but Brook remained defiant, telling Ingle that he thought he had a few fights left in him. The experienced trainer told reporters he had no concerns the former champ won’t fight again, and there’s the belief there that his injuries will heal, and eventually become stronger.
