Kell Brook (32-0, 22 KOs) is the underdog in his fight against IBF 147 pound champ Shawn Porter (24-0-1, 15 KOs) for their fight this Saturday night, but fellow Brit Matthew Hatton is giving him a great chance of going into the ring and taking Porter’s belt.
Hatton knows what kinds of skills that Brook has, because he lost to him a couple of years ago by a 12 round decision. Hatton took Brook’s best shots for the first 8 rounds, and fought well in the last four rounds after Brook gassed out. Brook has since taken care of his stamina problems by carefully monitoring his diet.
“I think he’s got a great chance going into this fight,” Hatton said to Skyboxing.com. “I believe Kell is a special fighter. I believe he can do it.”
Brook is going to need to raise his game considerably to beat Porter in this fight. The opposition that his promoters have matched Brook up against during his career hasn’t done him any favors in terms of development. He’s been stuck on fringe level competition for the past two years, and before that he’d been facing C level opposition.
At some point his promoter Eddie Hearn should have moved him up against a true A-level fighter so that he can be ready for guys like Shawn Porter and the other top fighters. With the way Hearn has been matching Brook, he’s going to go from fighting an unknown guy named Alvaro Robles in his last fight in March to facing one of the best fighters in the world at 147 on Saturday.
To be sure, Brook has the power to beat Porter, but he’s going to need to get in the trenches with him to beat him. Brook doesn’t have the legs to move around the ring to try and box Porter for 12 rounds. If Brook tries to box, he’s going to get knocked out after he runs out of gas. For Brook to win this fight he’s going to need to beat Porter in the center of the ring and stay off the ropes at all costs.
