Former IBF World welterweight champion Kell Brook (37-2, 26 KO’s) returns to the ring tonight, as he continues in his quest to land a meaningful fight in 2019.
Facing off against unheralded Australian Michael Zerafa (25-2, 14 KO’s), Brook – who is campaigning at super welterweight for the second consecutive outing – will be looking to impress in-front of his home fans in Sheffield, as well as long-time domestic rival Amir Khan who is widely expected to be in attendance.
Brook will, however, have to get through his opponent without the assistance of former-trainer Dominic Ingle, with the two men splitting due to scheduling conflicts in October. Ingle, who guided Brook to World title glory against Shawn Porter in California in 2014, will be replaced by Brook’s former amateur opponent and friend John Fewkes.
With rumours of Khan entertaining a bout with three-weight World champion Terence Crawford, Brook will be under pressure to lay his claim for an all-British showdown with the former unified super lightweight champion.
However, with this evening’s bout against Zerafa also afforded a final eliminator status for Jarrett Hurd’s WBA ‘Super’ title at 154lbs, a victory for the Yorkshireman will manoeuvre him into position to capture World title glory in a second weight class.
Zerafa, an unremarkable opponent with a distinct lack of competition at World level (barring a savage fifth round knockout loss to former middleweight champion Peter Quillin in 2015) is not thought to provide much resistance for Brook who, despite being unable to land the marquee fights his talent perhaps warrants, is known to be a brutal finisher of fringe opponents.
Bouts with Frankie Gavin, Kevin Bizier and Jo Jo Dan went fewer than twelve rounds combined in defences of his 147lbs crown, and Belarussian Sergey Rabchenko was bludgeoned mercilessly inside two in Brook’s return bout in March. Simply put, ‘Special K’ is not one to carry opponents that are clearly beneath him; and look for him to close the show in vicious fashion against Zerafa at the FlysDSA Arena tonight.
Unbeaten welterweight prospect Josh Kelly (8-0, 6 KO’s) squares off against former WBA ‘Interim’ champion David Avanesyan (23-3-1, 11 KO’s) on the undercard, with the self-proclaimed ‘Pretty Boy’ looking to maintain his pristine start to his professional career with another eye-catching performance.
Managed and trained by the revered Adam Booth, former Rio 2016 Olympian Kelly has moved quickly through the paid ranks so far, capturing the Commonwealth title in just his seventh fight against Kris George while also holding a win over former World title challenger Carlos Molina.
Avanesyan, however, remains a definite – yet calculated – step up in opposition, with the Russian claiming a win over faded legend Shane Mosley in 2016 before extending two-weight World champion Lamont Peterson the full twelve round distance in his next fight.
A win for Kelly will be a sure-fire sign of intent heading into 2019, with the precocious talent already ear-marking domestic clashes with Amir Khan and Brook himself as he looks to gatecrash the scene at 147lbs in the not-too-distant future.
Elsewhere on the card, entertaining Irishman Jono Carroll (16-0, 3 KO’s) faces Guillaume Frenois (46-1, 12 KO’s) in a final eliminator for Tevin Farmer’s IBF World super featherweight title, while local featherweight contender Kid Galahad (25-0, 15 KO’s) meets Brayan Mairena (10-4-1, 4 KO’s) in a keep busy fight ahead of what he hopes will be a bout against the winner of Josh Warrington’s IBF World title defence against Carl Frampton on December 22nd.
Former amateur standouts Anthony Fowler (8-0, 7 KO’s) and Qais Ashfaq (3-0, 1 KO) also get the opportunity to continue their unbeaten starts to the paid ranks, with both men speaking of their title intent in the new year.