Tag: Mark DeLuca

Kell Brook, re-energized and thinking big, calls out Terence Crawford

One comeback victory has emboldened Kell Brook enough to think that just about anything is possible, even a victory over Terence Crawford.

One comeback victory has emboldened Kell Brook enough to think that just about anything is possible, even a victory over leading pound-for-pound contender Terence Crawford.

Brook, who re-energized his career with a seventh-round stoppage of American junior-middleweight Mark DeLuca a week ago, isn’t talking about another tune-up. He also isn’t talking about longtime U.K. rival Amir Khan.

He’s talking about big names, which also means one more chance at a good payday. At 33, there doesn’t figure to be too many more of those.

Crawford, Brook told Sky Sports, “does everything well. He can punch, he can box, he can fight. He’s got the ring craft. He can perform under the bright lights. He has got it all.’’

What Crawford doesn’t have is Brook’s size. Crawford, No. 2 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list, is a welterweight. Presumably, he would have to come down in weight if he has any hope of fighting him.

“Don’t get me wrong, Crawford is one hell of a fighter,’’ Brook said. “But I believe I can beat him. I would have to be 110 percent.’’

A rematch with Errol Spence Jr. is also on Brook’s wish list. Spence scored an 11th-round stoppage of Brook in May 2017 at Sheffield, England.

“That haunts me, the first fight,’’ Brook said. “It haunts me, and I would love the rematch.’’

It’s not clear when Spence will resume his career. He’s back in the gym after recovering from a scary car crash in Dallas early on Oct. 10.

Kell Brook on possible fight with Amir Khan: ‘He’s a waste of time’

Kell Brook wants to embark on a path toward an opportunity to fight for world titles, not talk about Amir Khan.

Kell Brook, a little bit like history, is back. Brook, looking on Saturday like the fighter he was a couple of years ago, resumes his pursuit of world titles.

He’s back in the mix, which means the long-proposed bout with Amir Khan is what it always was. A fantasy.

“He’s a waste of time,’’ Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) said when asked about Khan during a news conference after his seventh-round stoppage of American Mark DeLuca (24-2, 13 KOs) in Sheffield, England.

For years, Brook-Khan was a fight everyone in the U.K. wanted to see. It never happened. Then, Brook began working toward a comeback following successive losses to Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr.

The comeback reignited talk about Brook-Khan. However, Brook struggled through a couple of fights. There were doubts. There was a 14-month layoff. Then, there was DeLuca. Brook finished him and then went onto talk as though Khan possibility was finished, too.

“I’m after belts,’’ he said.

Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) doesn’t have a world title anymore. Instead, Brook talked about Liam Smith, who was at ringside in Sheffield. Smith might represent a quicker path to a ranking that would put him in line for a junior middleweight belt. Smith is ranked No. 2 by one of the acronyms

Nevertheless, promoter Eddie Hearn, of Matchroom Boxing, is not ready to dismiss the Brook-Khan possibility. Hope springs eternal.

“I’d jump at that fight this summer,’’ Hearn said. “It’s a huge fight. Just to be part of the build-up would be special, but we can’t waste our strategy and energy talking about it.”

Terri Harper wins world title; Kid Galahad earns stoppage

Terri Harper is the new junior lightweight titleholder, beating Eva Wahlstrom by unanimous decision at the Sheffield Arena.

Move aside, Katie Taylor. There is a new name on the U.K. women’s boxing scene.

Yorkshire’s Terri Harper (10-0, 5 KOs) outpointed Finnish veteran Eva Wahlstrom (23-2-2, 3 KOs) over 10 rounds to become a new women’s junior lightweight titleholder on the Kell Brook-Mark DeLuca card Saturday at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England. 

The judges scored it 98-91, 99-90, and 99-90, all for the 23-year-old Harper.

After a closely contested first half, Harper shifted the momentum in her favor when she dropped Wahlstrom midway through Round 7. Though it was a flash knockdown more than anything, it seemed to allow Harper to open up her offense. Toward the end of Round 8, Harper hurt Wahlstrom with a flurry.

Also, Kid Galahad inched closer to a chance to avenge his loss to titleholder Josh Warrington last summer. The featherweight contender dominated Claudio Marrero, stopping the Dominican after eight rounds in a scheduled 12-rounder.

It was for the most part a typical Galahad fight: tedious and a bit ugly. In Round 4, Galahad was warned by referee Howard Foster for repeatedly using his forearms to push away the southpaw Marrero. Galahad fought at his desired pace, picking away at the one-dimensional Marrero with single punches as he maneuvered around the ring, switching stances. 

Galahad (27-1, 16 KOs) eventually turned it up in Round 7, connecting cleanly on hard combinations that had Marrero reeling. Concerned, Referee Foster checked in on Marrero (24-4, 17 KOs) during the break. Galahad continued the onslaught in the next round. After the end of Round 8, Marrero’s corner decided to throw in the towel.

With the win, Galahad once again becomes the mandatory challenger for the Leeds-based Warrington.

Kell Brook returns, stops Mark DeLuca in 7th round

Kell Brook shook off the cobwebs to defeat Mark DeLuca in the seventh round of a junior middleweight bout at Sheffield Arena.

Kell Brook still has some gas left in the tank. 

The former welterweight titleholder returned from a 14-month layoff to stop American journeyman Mark DeLuca inside seven rounds of a scheduled 12-round junior middleweight bout Saturday at the Sheffield Arena in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England.

The gulf in class between the two fighters was evident from the opening round. In Round 7, Brook put on the finishing touches by connecting on a counter left hand that dropped his opponent for the second time in the fight. The referee counted out the bloodied DeLuca.

“I felt very fit,” Brook said when asked post-fight to assess his performance. “Obviously a year and a half, I felt a little bit rusty, but once I got a bit into it … (DeLuca) was tough, he’s never been stopped.” 

Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) has struggled in recent years. He sustained orbital bone fractures in his knockout losses to Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. and was stabbed in the leg while on vacation in Tenerife. He has also difficulty making the welterweight limit.

With the win over DeLuca, Brook promised a new beginning as he aims to become a two-division titleholder. 

“I’m a new kid, I’m a new person,” he said. “I’m constantly in the gym. I’m living like a professional. … 2020 is the year that I become a champion again.”

A possible opponent is Liverpool’s Liam Smith, who was sitting ringside. Both fighters are promoted by Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn. Asked if that fight interested him, Brook responded, “Of course it does. I don’t shy away from any fighter. I’ve sparred him. We’ll sit down with Eddie (Hearn) this week.”

The southpaw DeLuca (24-2, 13 KOs) was competitive in the first couple of rounds as Brook felt him out and shook off rust but it was all downhill for the Massachusetts product beginning in Round 3, when Brook knocked DeLuca to the canvas for the first time in the fight with a combination. DeLuca was able to shake it off and gamely went right after Brook, who answered with an uppercut that buckled him. By that point, DeLuca’s face was a bloody mess.

DeLuca started off strong in Round 4, landing a right hand that momentarily caused Brook to hold, but Brook would answer back, staggering DeLuca with straight rights to close out the round as the pro-Brook crowd went into a frenzy.

This was Brook’s first bout since his win over Michael Zerafa in December 2018.

Kell Brook says he must make a statement against Mark DeLuca

Kell Brook has to beat mediocrity and Mark DeLuca if he has any hope of resurrecting a career.

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.”

Kell Brook vs. Amir Khan at long last? Talk as loud as ever

Amir Khan and Kell Brook continue to say they’re willing to fight one another. Could it actually happen this year?

From Floyd Mayweather Jr. to Manny Pacquiao, a lot happened in the last decade. Here’s something that didn’t:

Kell Brook vs. Amir Khan.

Glaciers have melted since fight fans first started talking about Brook-Khan. There’s still no opening bell, yet the talk is still there, suddenly as loud as ever. Khan mentioned Brook last week, perhaps because he is running out of options for some good money. Retirement looms.

Brook, 33, has heard the renewed talk, of course. It must sound like an old song. He knows the lyrics. Yet, the beat goes on. Perhaps, a re-done version will include more than just talk in a new decade. Maybe not.

“Amir knows where I am, I’m here,’’ Brook, a former welterweight champion, told The Mirror while training for a Feb. 8 bout against Mark DeLuca in Sheffield, England. “If he wants to fight, it’s not hard to make. I’m not being awkward and the world knows that.

“He’s reluctant because we’re both British and with him saying how easy he can beat me, he wouldn’t be able to walk the streets knowing he’d been pasted all over the ring by me.

“He’s been saying for years that he will do this, that and other to me, so when I put him flat on his face he wouldn’t be able to walk around the streets. It would do him in. He can lose to Americans. But losing to a Brit — given the history we’ve got — that’s going to hurt. That’s the major issue for him.”

Brook (38-2, 26 KOs) went on to say that he does not expect to hear from Khan if he delivers an impressive performance in a victory over DeLuca (24-1, 13 KOs).

“I’m fed up of saying his name,’’ said Brook, who hasn’t fought since scoring a unanimous decision over Michael Zerafa on Dec. 12, 2018.

However, he hasn’t eliminated the Khan option. Brook’s hopes for 2020:

“DeLuca, world title fight, Khan.”

Then, maybe, a decade without talk of Brook-Khan. That’ll sound strange.