Kell Brook has admitted that his career could have been very different if it weren’t for one specific period in his boxing life.
Brook was one of the best welterweights in the world for a short time after he travelled to America and dethroned Shawn Porter to win the IBF welterweight title.
That was in 2014 when the division was one of the most exciting in the sport with big names like Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Danny Garcia, Amir Khan and many more all active.
By 2016 however, and looking for the biggest fights possible, Brook decided to move up to middleweight to face the Kazakh wrecking ball that was the then-unbeaten and prime Gennady Golovkin, who had knocked out the vast majority of the men he faced.
Speaking to Boxing News, Brook admitted that fight and the one he took next back down at welterweight to defend his title took a regrettable toll on him physically.
“At the time [against Golovkin] I thought it was a win-win I kept my belt if I lost and I did really believe. I knew it would be very, very hard. [When you’re a] fighter who’s never lost, you’re that confident in your own mind.
“I believed I could have kept out of his way and be sharp. But that first round let me down, getting caught early. Trying to stand with someone like Golovkin, then my eye going, and then it went downhill.
“The fight after, another elite [opponent], taking muscle off and everything else, killing myself at welterweight. Now looking back of course it weren’t the right move, Golovkin and then Spence, it’s ruined me a bit. How different could it have been? We’ll never know.”
Brook went on the fight and lose to Terence Crawford and eventually bowed out back in 2022 when he fought his long-time rival Khan. Brook dominated early and stopped the Bolton man in round six to end on a high and beat the fighter he had chased for so long.
