By Ian Wallwork: Kell Brook announced his arrival in the States on Saturday when he scored a fifth round win over the willing, but lacking, Luis Galarza. Brook, voted Britain’s 2009 young boxer of the year, fought of the undercard of another fight you might have seen, Carl Froch vs Andre Ward.
Brook said to RingTV: “I’ll take Mike Jones, I’ll fight him in Atlantic City, and I’ll destroy him.”
Travelling to America with his promoter Eddie Hearn, Brook knew he needed to show fans in America something special. He has made a name for himself in Britain already, going 26-0 and beating Matthew Jennings, Lovemore N’Dou and Rafal Jackiewicz.
The plan was always to take the Sheffield-born welterweight across the Atlantic in an Amir Khan style. You can’t blame him; in the USA there are bigger fights and more money. Hearn, who also promotes Carl Froch, set up the Galarza fight to introduce Kell Brook to American boxing fans.
Brook dominated Galarza over five rounds, making stage one in the plan a success. You might think the next stop would be a step-up in opposition, but something gradual. Maybe a top-ten fight against another prospect, or a tough fight against a veteran like Jan Zaveck. Nope.
Brook wants to go straight for a world title. He has called-out IBF number one ranked contender Mike Jones. Since Andre Berto vacated his IBF belt, we have been waiting for someone to claim it. Jones (26-0 19KOs) made himself favourite by scoring a unanimous decision over Sebastian Andres Lujan in a December title eliminator.
Kell Brook wants a title, but some would say this is too early. Across the Atlantic, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr waited forty-two fights before going for a world belt and fellow-Mexican Canelo Alvarez waited until his thirty-seventh before stepping up. You have to give Brook credit for not wanting an ego-inflating record. As his win total has stepped up, so has his level of opposition.
The question left is “Does Mike Jones want to fight Kell Brook?” Bob Arum said in 2010 that Jones would go to England to fight Brook. But he has also said that Jones could fight Manny Pacquiao in 2012. When Bob Arum gets involved, it is impossible to say what will happen. What’s for sure is that Mike Jones wants the IBF title. Whether he’ll fight Kell Brook to get it is something we won’t know until 2012.