Welterweight world titleholder Kell Brook is a frustrated man not quite sure what to do as he ponders his future. On the one hand, Brook wants to continue to defend the 147-pound title he worked so hard to get his hands on. He had to earn a mandatory shot at the belt before he could get a title shot, and when he did, he got the job done in 2014, traveling from his home country of England to Carson, California, and outpointing Shawn Porter in a terrific performance.
On the other hand, he wants only the biggest fights possible, and they have not been forthcoming. Brook has made three title defenses, but they have all been against lesser opponents, much to his chagrin. They were easy knockout wins against Jo Jo Dan, Frankie Gavin and Kevin Bizier, but those are not the kind of fights Brook wants.
When no other top welterweight would fight him, Brook, a huge welterweight who struggles to make weight, jumped at the opportunity to move up two weight classes to challenge unified middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin at 160 pounds in September.
It was a spectacle and a very exciting fight as a sold-out crowd at London's O2 Arena cheered Brook's every move. He had his moments but was ultimately outgunned by the ferociously punching Golovkin, who broke the orbit bone on the right side of Brook's face in the fifth-round knockout win.
Four months later, Brook's injury has healed, and he is anxious to get back into the ring this spring. But he has a dilemma: Does he give up the title he cherishes to fight at junior middleweight so he doesn't have to kill himself to make welterweight or return to welterweight for big fights he'll have to struggle to make weight for.
The look on Brook's face and the tone in his voice makes it obvious he is struggling with the decision.
"Everybody on my team wants me to move up to 154 pounds, because when I'm training I am a lot better, a lot healthier, have more energy for sparring than I do when I have to kill myself to make 147," said Brook, who sat down with ESPN at ringside to talk during a break during the undercard of the Badou Jack-James DeGale super middleweight unification fight on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. "Making 147 drains the life out of me, but it took me all my life to get the IBF world title, and I still want to defend what's rightfully mine.
"I still want to have the big fights with Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, Manny Pacquiao. The big fights."
