Former IBF welterweight world champion, Kell Brook, has named the hardest puncher that he has faced, both in the professional ring and in sparring, twelve months on since he announced his retirement.
‘Special K’ defeated Shawn Porter in 2014 to claim the world title, winning by majority decision over in Carson, California.
The Yorkshireman would then go on to make three title defences before stepping up two weight divisions to face the undefeated, unified middleweight champion, Gennadiy Golovkin. He picked up his first defeat when his corner threw in the towel as as a result of a fractured eye socket in the fifth-round.
The Brit returned to the 147lb scene but lost his world title to the current unified king of the division, Errol Spence Jr, again by stoppage, this time in the eleventh round.
After three consecutive victories, Brook challenged once more for a world title, falling short against Terence Crawford with a fourth-round knockout defeat, before ending his career with a long-awaited win against his rival, Amir Khan, last year.
Despite being knocked out earlier against Crawford, Brook claimed that it is Spence that hits hardest our of the two welterweight rivals.
However, in an interview with Boxing Social via Freebets.com, the now 37-year-old revealed that neither came close to the power of Golovkin – perhaps no surprise given the big difference in weight.
The Kazakhstani fighter is still competing, his last fight being a defeat in the long-awaited trilogy bout with Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez. Despite being 41-years-old now, ‘Triple G’ is still considered a threat to anyone with the spiteful power that has landed him with 37 knockouts from 42 wins over his career.
As for Brook, he’s keen to return to the ring with suggestions that he could face controversial youngster, Conor Benn, this year.
However, recent rumours indicate that Benn will instead face Chris Eubank Jr to complete the historic cross-generational trilogy bout that was cancelled back in October.