{"id":51659,"date":"2015-03-18T20:40:26","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T01:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=51659"},"modified":"2015-03-19T13:02:03","modified_gmt":"2015-03-19T18:02:03","slug":"kell-brook-set-for-homecoming-defense-after-extended-layoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=51659","title":{"rendered":"Kell Brook Set for Homecoming Defense After Extended Layoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kell<\/a>The British IBF welterweight champ Kell Brook will return to the ring this month for the first time since he took Shawn Porter\u2019s belt back in August 2014. Later that year Brook was stabbed in the leg while on holiday in Tenerife and a lengthy rehabilitation period followed, delaying the 28-year-old\u2019s title defence. <\/p>\n

Sheffield-born Brook\u2019s hometown fight against Jo Jo Dan on March 28th is a relatively low-risk but welcome return to action. Assuming a successful defence, what happens next for the talented Brook will be fascinating to behold.<\/p>\n

Right now Brook\u2019s reputation is limited outside of the UK but his status as the IBF champion gives him a fine platform from which to build his profile and attract top-level challengers over the course of 2015. By the end of the year we should have a better idea of Brook\u2019s credentials \u2013 the Porter fight may have won him the IBF belt but many have since diminished it as a soft title fight against a limited boxer. Such criticism seems unfair but it is down to Brook to prove his detractors wrong.<\/p>\n

With bookmakers like Betfair giving the heavy favourite odds<\/a> to win of 1\/12, this month\u2019s Jo Jo Dan fight may look like a gimme but Brook will be aiming to win in style and set himself up for the sort of high-profile fights that will put him on the world stage. Names like Thurman, Rios and Marquez are being touted and Brook himself has made no bones about his belief that a crack at the winner of the Mayweather – Pacquiao showdown could be feasible:<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter May 2, there will only be two champions in the division – myself and Floyd or Manny. I want to unify this division in style. I’m coming for them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly a showdown with fellow Brit Amir Khan \u2013 a fight that would certainly be big news in the UK \u2013 looks unlikely this year given Khan\u2019s apparent reluctance<\/a> but hard-hitting Keith Thurman is apparently keen on a unification fight. Whatever transpires 2015 has the potential to be a big year for Kell \u201cThe Special One\u201d Brook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The British IBF welterweight champ Kell Brook will return to the ring this month for the first time since he took Shawn Porter\u2019s belt back in August 2014. Later that year Brook was stabbed in the leg while on holiday in Tenerife and a lengthy rehabilitation period followed, delaying the 28-year-old\u2019s title defence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[12420],"class_list":["post-51659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-kell-brook-set-for-homecoming-defense-after-extended-layoff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51659"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51659\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}