After Kell Brook’s big win over Shawn Porter last weekend all talk shifted to who the newly crowned IBF welterweight champion of the world face in his first defense.
Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn said that names have already been popping up as possible Brook opponents for the so called Amir Khan “tune-up” fight in December. for Amir Khan in the summer of 2015.
Names like Juan Manuel Marquez, Brandon Rios, Keith Thurman, Josesito Lopez and others were mentioned by Hearn, making the fight sound nothing like a tune-up bout.
Out of the names mentioned Thurman presents the best fight for fans, as Brook is a gritty fighter who can take a punch as well as he can dish one out. Thurman was on Porter’s radar before Saturday and Thurman would give Brook a great test as he has power that the other mentioned don’t as he has 21 knockouts in 23 fights.
Rios has a big name in the sport, but his last outings weren’t so hot, so the name is there but recent performances won’t hype up the bout as much as Thurman could.
Marquez is a legend in the sport, but the probability of that fight taking place in December isn’t likely due to the fight staged to be in England and it’s hard to see Marquez traveling overseas to take that fight. So unless the bout is shifted to the states, then don’t count on Marquez and Brook taking place.
Then there is Lopez who made his name by stopping Victor Ortiz back in 2012, but he isn’t the same fighter he was at lower weights. In all fights besides the Ortiz bout that Lopez stepped up his competition in the welterweight division he lost (Canelo Alvarez and Marcos Maidana).
With the big names being mentioned we should have a exciting double-header Dec. 6, as Khan is also linked to solid names for his fight such as Devon Alexander.
If the card comes together as hoped, 2014 should come to an exciting end and the Brook-Khan bout may not come to fruition in 2015 as both fighters may not make it out of their fights with a win.
