SO, WHAT NEXT FOR KELL BROOK? 

Does Kell Brook have one more performance left in him or is it time to count his losses and  bow out gracefully? 

Last night, Kell Brook was stopped in the fourth round by Terence Bud Crawford, in their WBO welterweight title fight in Nevada, USA. Although he started the first three rounds very well, once Crawford opened up, the Omaha, Nebraska native finished the fight in blistering fashion. It now leaves Brook in an uncertain position in his career, having been stopped in three of his biggest fights to date.

The problem for Brook is, just like the Golovkin and Spence Jr fights, against Crawford, he was again in the fight, doing well and arguably winning the first three rounds until it all came crashing down. When you look back at his previous defeats, his fight with Spence Jr was in May 2017, 8 months after he moved up two weight classes to challenge Golovkin for the WBC & WBO middleweight titles, where he was stopped in five rounds.

He was in the fight against Spence Jr, right into the later stages, until he got stopped in the 11th round. His reasons for that defeat was due to the issue with moving up to middleweight, then having to move back down two weight classes in less than a year to defend his welterweight title against Errol Spence Jr.

However, three years and four fights later, as the bigger man, he was blown away in the fourth round to arguably the p4p no1 fighter in the world.

At 34, Kell Brook is not exactly an old fighter, but obviously not a young buck. I wouldn’t imagine he has many more years in the sport, but what more can he do in the sport? It’s certainly no shame to have defeats to Golovkin, Spence Jr and Crawford. It shows he has fought the very best in his era, at times where not many were lining up to fight these boxers, but he unfortunately came up short and even more unfortunately, got stopped in all three.

The way he performed in all three of these fights would have given him some confidence in his own skills and abilities, but there comes a time in all top level sport where you have to be completely honest and come to terms with the status quo. Brook will have to realise his place in the sport, he was/is a great boxer but never elite.

With that said, he can still hold his head up and be proud of what he has done and achieved in the sport, added to the level of entertainment he has given the fans. Not many British boxers past or present can say they have fought several boxers on the p4p list in their era.

However, where does he go from here? I fully understand, due to the level of his performance against Crawford, albeit for the first three rounds, he may feel he still has a lot to offer.

But after being in there with the likes of Golovkin, Spence Jr and Crawford, not to mention Shawn Porter, there are not many avenues and directions he can go that will get him and the boxing public interested.

Naturally, in these Covid times, although we don’t really know how long it will last for, at this stage of his career, I cant really see him, nor will he be happy or motivated to take a few decent but non high profile opponents. As stated, Brook does not have many more years in the sport, so it has to be real calculated and worthwhile moves.

For me, he only has a few limited options. Kell has always been big for welterweight and has fought at middle and light middleweight in the past three years of his career.

Moving up to light middleweight is a viable option. A fight against either one of the Charlo brothers for a title could be huge prospect. If those fights are not immediate options, he could campaign for an eliminator against the like of Ereslandy Lara, Jarrett Hurd, Julian Williams, Jaison Rosario, Erickson Lubin or Brian Castano, where a win could put him in line for a title shot.

That said, the way he got stopped in four rounds by Crawford a lighter fighter, would he still be confident in mixing it with the heavier punchers in the light middleweight division? Although the weight difference between the two weight classes is not that significant.

Secondly, although we have heard, spoken about, could even be tired of this, thinking that the time for the fight has passed. I really do believe the Khan fight is still there.

I know Amir Khan has not fought since July 2019, which was more of an exhibition fight in Saudi Arabia, and seems semi retired. But this could be both fighters’ last opportunity to go out on a real high. Their careers has more or less been on a parallel.

Both have gone out and won world titles. Both have moved up two weight classes to fight big punchers and been stopped. Both have been stopped by Crawford. Both have fought other big name, quality boxers and both have been chasing other big fights. The only thing left for both to do is fight each other.

However, after everything both fighters have done in their careers, and with an almost career long rivalry and feud, the thought of losing to the other to end their boxing careers could be the issue and something each will not bare thinking about. That fear could stop the fight from happening. Maybe they would rather just leave it than risk a defeat.

If the fight was to happen, naturally, both fighters, promotors and the public would love it to happen in a sold out stadium. Sadly, that does not seem like an option, however, recently I have seen fights in America with fans, so there could be a prospect of a reduced crowd in a spaced out stadium.

But in terms of the fighters, this is a fight that’s been brewing for a decade and almost happened several times previously. Many may think the time has passed and obviously, the fight would have been better when both were in their primes, but both were chasing legacy fights and world titles elsewhere.

Now they both have been on those journey’s, it could come full circle and almost be poetic for their careers to end in one last barnstorming, epic battle against each other.

Or is that just me being optimistic and over hopeful? Regardless, as I stated, Brook does not have many options left for him. Retirement is certainly another option, and I am sure after 42 fights and over 15 years in such a tough sport, coming off a devastating and disappointing defeat, retirement has to come into the conversation.

However, from someone who for a long time had been wishing to see a Brook v Khan fight. I am hoping both fighters have seen significant vulnerabilities in the other to boost them enough to push for the fight to happen. They could now feel at this point in their careers, the reward outweighs the risk, the good outweighs the bad and all the stars will align for it to happen. If it does, even at this stage of their careers, even if it was in an empty stadium, it would still be one of the biggest fights in British boxing history.