Brook came to the ring to a rapturous reception and rose to the occasion like an elite World ruler. The Sheffield star eased into the opening round and Dan felt the first of many right hands in the second half of the first stanza.
A sign of things to follow came in the second round as Dan hit the canvas early and then again after making the count, both from right uppercuts. The Romanian-Canadian was wobbled once more with a minute to go but gritted his teeth to hear the bell.
It will be Brook’s first defence of his crown, won in hostile territory when outpointing the feared American Shawn Porter in August of 2014.
Yorkshire above most, if not all, UK regions embodies the Ricky Hatton-esque spirit of the British boxing fan. You know what I’m talking about, that intangible connection between fan and fighter, which remains the envy of world boxing.
Kell Brook says he’s ready to prove he’s an elite level fighter when he defends his IBF World Welterweight title against number one mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan tomorrow night at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield, live on Sky Sports.
Brook is back in action following a rollercoaster ride in the last eight months, ripping the title from Shawn Porter in Los Angeles in August before a life-threatening attack on holiday in Spain just weeks later.
‘The Special One’ recovered from the attack and was told he would not only walk again but would be able to resume his career, and the Sheffield star has been on fire in the gym knowing that he’s back in the groove and at the top table of the lucrative Welterweight division.
Kell Brook steps between the ropes for the first time as a World champion on Saturday night as he defends his IBF Welterweight title at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield against Jo Jo Dan in ‘Unbreakable’ presented by FX World, live on Sky Sports – after fearing he may never walk again after the shocking attack he suffered on holiday in Spain in September.
Brook ripped the title from Shawn Porter in Los Angeles in August with a stunning performance in the American’s backyard, but just two weeks after that win, Brook was fighting for his life in hospital after a machete attack whilst on holiday in Spain.
For a while it seemed as though Amir Khan would get his dream of a super fight against either Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao. It was certainly unlikely that they were going to fight each other, and they would both need opponents and Khan was coming off a supremely dominant performance over former world champion Devon Alexander.
Amir Khan has had a lot of ups and downs in his career, but it seemed as though all the chasing had been doing was going to pay off one way in another. Unfortunately for him they ended up making the fight and he was left out in the cold without an opponent or a world title. His last fight was in 2014, and so surely will now be searching for a good named opponent to try and nab a match with one of these guys at a later date, or another big fight at the very least.
Bob Arum, in an interview with FightHype, has said that pound for pound figher and four weight world champion Juan Manuel Marquez is in the process of testing out his knee and checking to see how the rehabilitation is going. Arum said that it would be in the next few months that an announcement would be made as to whether Marquez would be able to continue his boxing career, despite wanting to fight on and win that fifth world title and break the record for mexican boxers.
In an interview with IFL TV Eddie Hearn again referenced his plans to set up a big money and exposure fight for IBF welterweight champ Kell Brook in the summer of 2015.
Eddie Hearn now has said that Juan Manuel Marquez is the number one fight that they want, as Marquez is the biggest name out there available for Brook. Whilst they understand that Mayweather and Pacquiao are a bit out of their reach currently, everyone else is on the hit list and the first now on that list is Marquez.
In an interview with IFL TV, Eddie Hearn can be quoted as saying ‘of course we want the Mayweather fight, but I am not going to start shouting it out because I think we have to do more to get it.’
In the half hour interview with IFL TV Eddie Hearn discussed many things including British fighters Amir Khan, Carl Froch, James DeGale and George Groves, but he also discussed the future of his fighter Kell Brook who will be coming back from a stab wound to defend his IBF title against Jo Jo Dan on the 28th March 2015.
Fernando Beltran and Ignacio Beristain (promoter and trainer for Marquez) have said that Juan Manuel will fight again and that it will be in 2015. At 41 years of age the Mexican legend has the right to be picky with his fights and having fought just once in 2013 and 2014 it is likely he will only take one fight for this year also.
Marquez has said that his final goal as a fighter would be to win a world title at 147 and become the first Mexican boxer to win titles in five weight divisions.
In an interview with Fight Hype Eddie Hearn, promoter for IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook, said that once their mandatory against Jo Jo Dan is complete, they would be looking for a big name in the summer. The names that he chose to mention were Juan Manuel Marquez, Marcos Maidana and the winner of the upcoming Thurman vs Guerrero match up.
Any of these fighters would be a fantastic match up for the 28 year old Brook, and each would most likely be viewed as his toughest test to date. Juan Manuel Marquez has been looking for a title at . Marquez was the third Mexican born boxer to become a four division champion and a win over Brook would make him the first five division champion. His only other options to pick up titles in that weight division would be rematches with Mayweather and Pacquiao so Brook has to be seen as the best route for him.