Kell Brook, former IBF welterweight champion, announced his retirement 11 weeks after defeating longtime rival Amir Khan. Brook stated that "there is no more desire to continue."
Prior to this, there were rumors that Brook could move up in weight to fight Chris Eubank Jr., with Eddie Hearn saying he was offering £5m to fight Conor Benn, while a rematch with Khan seemed unlikely after a one-sided first. fight. A fight with Josh Taylor was also discussed.
“I had a long conversation with my family and parents, and I decided that this was it,” Brook said. - I won't box anymore. It's a little emotional to talk about it out loud. But this is a big relief for my mom. I think that everyone around me will be happy. The truth is boxing is a very tough and dangerous sport where you can legally get killed in the ring and I ended my career alive and well.”
Brook studied at Sheffield's famous Winobank, designed by Brendan Ingle. For most of his career, he was coached by Brendan's son, Dominic. Brook won the IBF title by defeating Sean Porter in Carson, California in August 2014 and defended it three times before losing it to Errol Spence three years later.
Brook was lucky he was able to defend the belt at all after suffering a serious leg injury when he was stabbed a month after he won the title. Brook also broke his cheekbone twice, first when he moved up to middleweight to face Gennady Golovkin and then when he lost to Spence.
“If I didn’t box, I would be in real trouble, my life could go downhill, considering where I come from,” Brook said. “I will always be grateful to Brendan Ingle and his sons Dominic and John for helping me instill discipline and a foundation in my life.”
“I needed to fight with Khan, I needed to settle this resentment, enmity. Now I have no evil feelings left. It seems to me that when you have been in the ring with someone, it goes away, leaves you. Amir and I said a few hateful words during preparation, but that happens in boxing. But I began to respect him after the fight. In the ring, he showed his heart," Brook recalled his last fight with Khan. Kell also lost to Terence Crawford in his last attempt at a world title in 2020.
"Ups and downs, rollercoasters, it's been a long trip and that's all I had," he added. - I was the world champion, and that fight against Sean Porter in California will forever remain with me. Like my last fight with Amir. It won't be better than this walk in the ring. I have dreamed of becoming a world champion since I started boxing at the age of nine. I shared the ring with Golovkin, Spence, Crawford and finally got my fight with Amir Khan. After that, I don't think I needed to continue."
