By Adam Baskin: Trainer Dominic Ingle says Kell Brook is showing interest in coming out of retirement to potentially face the winner of the Oct. 8 fight between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn.
Ingle says former IBF welterweight champion Brook (40-3, 28 KOs) has been showing up at his gym regularly recently, and he feels like he has the bite between his teeth.
It’s unclear if the 36-year-old Brook can get the Eubank Jr-Benn winner. If that’s the condition for Brook to come back, it’s up in the air if that will happen.
It’s hard to imagine Brook coming back to try and fight his way into the title picture at 147 at this stage in his career. Brook last fought in February, stopping Amir Khan in the sixth round in a fight that was many years past its sell-by date.
Brook had wanted to fight Khan for over a decade, finally getting it when interest from the boxing public was low. Brook’s punching power looked as good as ever in that win. There was no noticeable difference from earlier in Brook’s career.
If Brook is going to come back, fighting the winner of Eubank Jr-Benn would be an excellent fight for him if he can get it. Otherwise, Brook must decide if he accepts the idea of going for one of the world titles at 147 or 154.
Errol Spence Jr is unlikely to entertain the idea of fighting a rematch with Brook because he already knocked him out in 2017, and there is no interest from American boxing fans in a second fight.
Likewise, Terence Crawford knocked out Brook in four rounds in 2020, and he’s not going to waste a fight by throwing Kell a bone because the fight won’t sell out on PPV in the US.
“Never say Never. She entered the gym. She has been last week and she has been this week. He is training and he is doing well,” Dominic Ingle told Boxing Kind Media of Kell Brook’s potential comeback.
“He has a couple of public events where he’s giving talks, but he told me he’s getting nervous. The more he watches the Benn-Eubank saga, it’s like laughing.
“He says, ‘Eubank is excluding himself from that fight because of the weight. He is the biggest guy. On paper, he is the best fighter. What is wrong with him? Why is he losing his pen again?
“So maybe he’s had discussions with Ben Shalom and Sky about the winner of those two, I don’t know. He has been twice today, training. Who knows what the outcome will be,” Ingle said of Brook.
