By James Slater: Tonight in Liverpool, Frank Warren’s latest big card got underway in style, as unbeaten welterweight sensation Kell Brook took out Ghana’s Philip Kotey inside two impressive rounds. The televised opener may not have been a competitive fight, but it was still good to see “Special K” do his stuff.
Brook, still only 24, decked Kotey in the 1st-round, when a big right hand to the head followed by a sweet left hook to the jaw sent the 28-year-old southpaw crashing. Up but on unsteady legs, the man known as “Sweet Pea” made it to the bell but was soon finished off in the following session.
Brook, who improved to 23-0(16) with the win, soon had Kotey in trouble again, unleashing both hands on the man from Accra. Finally, after Kotey stumbled back into the ropes for a second occasion in the 2nd, the referee Manuel Oliver Palomo waved the mismatch off. The official time was just 38 seconds of the 2nd. Kotey goes back to Ghana with a 21-6-2(15) record.
Okay, Brook never faced a killer tonight, but Kotey had only been stopped once previously and he came to fight. Too relaxed for his own good, the older man was simply overwhelmed. Brook, who models himself on fellow Sheffield star (or former star) Naseem Hamed, opened up with both hands, looking for the KO. An easy night’s work for him in the end, tonight’s win may lead Brook into a bigger fight next year.
Post-fight, promoter Warren spoke of how the WBO inter-continental 147-pound champ is ranked at number-one in the world by the WBO, and that that makes him the number-one contender for the crown currently held by pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao.
“We’ll see if Pacquiao vacates,” Warren said regarding what may be next for Brook. “It’s not a race, but Special K is going places.”
No-one is suggesting Brook will even fight Pac-Man, let alone beat him. But if Pacquiao does vacate his belt, Brook will be in line to fight for it. There has been talk of Brook taking on unbeaten U.S contender Mike Jones, but it looks like the 23-0(18) Philadelphian will face Mexico’s Jesus Soto Karass in a rematch of their November thriller first.
Whoever he fights next, keep an eye on Brook. “Special K” has the definite look of a future star.