Kell Brook needs more than a victory.
He has to beat mediocrity and Mark DeLuca if he has any hope of resurrecting a career that has gone nowhere since successive losses to Errol Spence Jr. and Gennadiy Golovkin.
“It’s got to be spectacular,’’ Brook (38-2, 26 KOs) told Sky Sports about his latest – and perhaps last – comeback attempt Saturday against junior middleweight DeLuca (24-1, 13 KOs) in his hometown of Sheffield, England on DAZN. “You’ve got to go away and think: ‘He’s back better than ever.’
“That’s what I want people to say.”
That’s another way of saying forgettable is not an option. Brook’s last fight, a unanimous decision over Michael Zerafa in October 2018, fell into that category. It was a yawner and it was followed by an idle year. Brook, 33, didn’t fight in 2019. Now, he’s fighting just to be remembered by an audience with a short memory.
“If I go through the motions, I will announce my retirement,’’ Brook told iFL TV,’’ he said. “If I look mediocre, I’m obviously not good enough.’’
Obviously, Brook intends to deliver a performance that conjures up memories of his past. He called himself The Special One. Special is what he hopes to do against the unknown DeLuca, a Marine from Massachusetts.
Brook’s plans are especially ambitious.
“2020, I want to be two-time champion,” said Brook, whose bout against DeLuca has revived talk about him finally fighting Amir Khan. “I’ve never been as driven, I’ve never been as focused in my whole career as I am now, because I want to mix it with the best.
“If I could have my dream fight, it would be an Errol Spence rematch. I could do welterweight. For the right fight, I’ll do welterweight.”