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Kell Brook Makes Winning Debut as Light Middleweight

By Faisal “Fayz” Masood

In 2016 Kell Brook was the undefeated IBF welterweight champion with a record of 36-0 25 KO’s. With his confidence sky high he was offered a fight with middleweight king Gennady Golovkin, who at the time was the most feared man in boxing. Following his nemesis Amir Khan, who had an unsuccessful attempt at jumping up weight divisions to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Brook took a high risk high reward fight against “Triple G” and came out worse for wear when he was stopped in round five. For his troubles he ended the fight with a fractured eye socket and the first loss of his career.

Following the loss and after a full recovery from the injury, a return to the welterweight division was on the cards and Brook would defend his IBF title against another formidable opponent, Errol Spence, JR. in May of 2017. Brook has had well documented struggles with making the weight as a welterweight for a number of years and after fighting at 160lbs against Golovkin, boiling down in weight to 147lbs would be an even more difficult task than when he was regularly fighting as a welterweight.

Despite the home town advantage and a fast start, Spence, JR. wore down Brook and took command in the second half of the fight. With Brook struggling from persistent shots to the body his trouble was doubled when an eye injury forced him to take a knee and give up the fight in round eleven. Brook had lost his IBF title and a second consecutive loss and in the process had suffered another fractured eye socket, this time to the other eye.

After yet another spell on the sidelines to recover from the eye injury, Brook made a wise decision in moving up a division and starting fresh. With no title to defend and his weight issues of the past, this was a shrewd move by Brook and his opponent for his light middleweight debut would be a former sparring partner of his, Sergey Rabchenko.

Rabchenko was a fighter with extensive amateur experience, 238 fights in all and as a professional had been trained by one of Britain’s most loved fighters, Ricky Hatton. A natural light middleweight he had been a sturdy performer with arguably his best win coming against a former stable mate of Brooks, Ryan Rhodes. But this was back in 2012 and in recent years Rabchenko had not been the most active of fighters, perhaps this was why he was chosen as Brooks debut in the division. Would he be solid enough to test Brooks eye?

The big question of course would be Brooks eye, would the injuries be in the back of his mind and effect his performance? How would Brook react to taking punches to the eye from a light middleweight? Fighting in a heavier division means you will be soon be facing heavier punches.

As round one began it immediately looked clear that Brook was the sharper man. Brook has never been known as being the quickest or the most powerful puncher, but he has always had a great sense of timing and this is his best quality as a fighter. Brook quickly found his range and followed that up landing some crisp right hands throughout the first round. He was also having success landing the jab whilst Rabchenko was missing with almost every single shot he threw.

Round two began and it was obvious Rabchenko was struggling, he was still missing with his shots and looked rusty and stiff whereas Brook was looking fluid and composed.

A lovely uppercut from Brook wobbled Rabchenko, his legs buckling beneath him and Brook sensing his moment, moved in for the finish. It came very quickly after with a right hand that sent Rabchenko to the canvas. The Belarusian didn’t look like he wanted a part in any more of the fight and wisely stayed down as the referee called off the fight, giving Brook a winning return and a winning debut in his new division. For his efforts, Brook picked up the WBC Silver Super Welterweight title, though what this is actually worth is anyone’s guess….

As many questions were answered as they were unanswered in this victory for Brook, he looks happier now that he doesn’t have to make 147lbs but Rabchenko didn’t land any punch of significance and the first question posed to Brook about his future didn’t concern a potential fight with a top contender in his new division but rather whether he would be willing to return to welterweight for a big domestic showdown with Amir Khan, who of course has recently joined Kell Brook as being promoted by Eddie Hearn. Perhaps a better opponent for his next fight would be another fellow countryman instead of Khan. Liam Smith is a ranked contender in the light middleweight division and another former sparring partner of Kell Brook and present the next logical step to a world title challenge should he win this fight.

The division has some dangerous names for Brook and he should look to settle into the division with another fight or two before he decides to take on the risk of title holders such as Sadam Ali and the wily veteran Erislandy Lara, only then can Brook prove he is capable enough to take the likes of Jermell Charlo, the holder of the WBC light middleweight title. Of course, Lara has his own battle to fight when he takes on the undefeated IBF title holder Jarrett Hurd next month in April. Kell Brooks winning entrance has just added a little more spice to the pot of the light middleweight division.

Check out Fayz’s available books for download on Amazon. He also runs his own Personal Training site and blog over at Fayz Fitness.

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