Time For Kell Brook to Create a Legacy

Time For Kell Brook to Create a Legacy

By Sina Latif

After a below-par performance in his unanimous decision win against Australian Michael Zerafa on Saturday, Kell Brook is craving the blockbuster fights again in 2019.

In the post-fight press conference, when talking about a fight with Amir Khan, the 32-year-old said: “Listen, this is the time now. Eddie (Hearn) knows that. The fight is now. I didn’t look brilliant tonight. If he’s watched that he’ll be rubbing his hands together saying I can take this kid, so come along and let’s do it!”

Brook went on further to state: “If he doesn’t want to fight me now, he’s saying it’s always going to be there, it’s not. I’m going after Porter, who I’ve already beat, he’s got the WBC, Thurman, all the top boys. I can mix it with them all, and then Hurd’s at light-middleweight.”

He continued to emphasise that he feels ‘reborn’ as a fighter.

With Amir Khan looking likely to sign for a $5 million showdown with three-weight world champion and WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford, Brook sounds like he is not waiting and throwing all his eggs in one basket for that ‘Battle of Britain’ fight, and has his sights set on some huge showdowns in the near future.

Rightly so. History tells us that when fighters chase someone rather than focusing on de-fining their own legacy, it will rarely be a happy ending.

Golovkin decided to fight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez instead of gunning for the undisputed title and cementing a legacy, and then fell victim to an extremely bizarre scorecard of 118-110 by one of the judges to Canelo and ultimately a draw. Still having his belts, rather than seeking a unification fight elsewhere following very questionable scorecards in his first fight against the Mexican, Golovkin waited for Canelo, only for the Mexican to fail drug tests and be removed from their May 5th pay-per-view rematch. The Kazakh middleweight then fought Vanes Martirosyan in a tune-up fight whilst eyeing the Canelo re-match, refused to fight Sergiy Derevyanchenko and therefore was stripped of his IBF belt, and then when he finally did have his rematch with Canelo, he lost his remaining belts.

On the other hand, rather than having two low-key fights whilst waiting for the Anthony Joshua rematch, Dillian Whyte fought former WBO heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker in a risky fight, came out victorious, and is now on the verge of having a rematch against a revitalised Dereck Chisora after their first brilliant scrap in another risky fight when considering the Joshua rematch is within touching distance.

Whilst taking these risks, Whyte’s credibility as a heavyweight is increasing significantly, he is improving drastically as a fighter and gaining invaluable experience by partaking in such fights, and it is refreshing for fans to see someone with a ‘throwback’ mentality of being willing to fight anyone.

Brook v Khan is the fight the public want, and have wanted for a few years, and logic dic-tates that it should be next.

However, Khan’s link with a Crawford showdown is the perfect opportunity for Brook to embark on creating his own legacy and for now at least, move on to other legacy-defining fights.

Positives remain and with improvement, Brook can leave his mark on the game further before he hangs up his gloves. However, we cannot get away from the fact that against Zerafa, Brook was hit a lot and he had to work hard for the win. A performance like that makes the sceptics believe that his two defeats against Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr have taken their toll on the Steel City hero.

A similar performance against the champions at 147lbs would not end well for Brook, and there are also ‘killers’ at 154lbs.

Jarrett Hurd, IBF, WBA (super) and IBO champion, is really big for the weight and is a frightening prospect. WBC king Jermell Charlo possesses real power. Jaime Munguia is the least-known of the 154lbs champions, however he is heavy-handed, with an 84% KO ratio, and is very dangerous.

Brook seems to have his sights set on career-defining fights at 147lbs if the Khan fight does not materialise, and rematches against the likes of Shawn Porter and Spence or a showdown with Danny Garcia or Keith Thurman would all be exciting and may provide the perfect platform for a revitalised Brook to cement his legacy as the fighter who came back to achieve great things after a rough patch, against all odds.

These are all risky fights, but if Brook improves from his performance on Saturday, victo-ries over them would be all the more impressive given the Yorkshireman’s recent strug-gles and would be truly legacy-defining.

Some may refer to Saturday’s flat performance and say that Brook needs Dominic Ingle in his corner if he is to revive his career.

However, by Brooks’ own admission, when he is a happy man, he is a dangerous man, and if a new trainer makes him a happy man, then that may be the best way forward as he seeks the big fights.

However high the demand for some fights can be, such as Brook v Khan, Brook seems set to create his legacy rather than chasing one man, and it is great to see. The greatest fighters of all time have had off-nights in the ring, and now it will hopefully be onwards and upwards for the Steel City hero!