Q&A with 'Special K' Kell Brook

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Evening gents

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Matchroom Sports fighter and world top ten ranked welterweight Kell Brook.

Spoiler:

Boasting a perfect professional record of 25(17)-0-0 Sheffield's Brook is a former British welterweight champion, former WBO Inter-Continental welterweight champion and the reigning WBA Inter-Continental champion. Due to fight in the United States for the first time against Luis Galarza on Saturday 17th December, Brook is all set for a huge 2012 with a very real possibility of fighting for a world title. Kell fights on the undercard of the Carl Froch vs Andre Ward Super Six final on what is sure to be a cracking night of boxing, and you'll see Kell's thoughts on his opponent in this interview below.

Many thanks to Kell for agreeing to speak with us, he is a top bloke with genuine ambitions to be the very best, and likewise many thanks to the staff at Matchroom Sports that helped arranged it.

We wish him all the best in his upcoming fight and his career going forward.

606v2: As you are now in the top ten of your division - What's your ideal opponent list over the next year or so?

KB: I'm just looking to fight anyone that is above me in the rankings or that has a belt, and whoever the public think I should be fighting, that is who I'm after.

606v2: There’s been a lot of talk about a fight between you and Amir Khan, with Khan using it as a ‘settling in’ fight at welterweight. How would you see a fight between the two of you going, and do you think it is dangerous of Khan to view you as a stepping stone?

KB: A very dangerous view, I know I've got his number, and when he moves up to my division and when our paths cross I'll destroy him. He is very silly to be looking at it as a stepping stone to any Mayweather fight, it'd be a Brook win and by KO.

606v2: Realistically, you’re never going to get an opportunity to fight against the two current top welterweights in Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr, but do you now feel that you’re at the level of the other contenders and champions in that division i.e. Berto and Senchenko?

KB: Yeah, Eddie has moved me along nicely and I've now dealt with fighters that have mixed with world class opponents. I've boxed regularly and I'm right where I need to be at this moment in time ahead of a world title challenge.

606v2: Do you feel that you have faced a wide enough variety of fighters to prepare you for all styles at world level, or is there anything you’re looking to gain more experience of before stepping up?

KB: I've boxed against all kinds of styles, so I'm confident that I won't struggle with any in particular. In the Wincobank gym there is pretty much every style there is, anyway, so I get plenty of practice. Either way, I feel confident that I can deal with any style once I get in to the ring, even if they've sprung a bit of a surprise. I can adapt to any style.

606v2: Who did you idolise as a youngster, or who was it that got you interested in boxing?

KB: It was actually Bruce Lee that got me interested in boxing, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, I was well into the old karate films! When I started boxing it was the likes of Naz, Eubank, Benn and Bruno. Those guys were on TV as I was growing up and that’s who I tried to emulate.

606v2: Your next fight will be your first in America. Do you think you'll need to fight across the pond on a regular basis, much like Hatton, Lewis etc, in order to secure the kind of legacy you want? Does fighting abroad make you feel any more nervous?

KB: Yeah, eventually I'll need to fight there more often. The USA is a much wider audience that love their boxing and they really get behind the boxing over there. If you're going to make it you're going to need to box out there regularly, and mix it with the big boys over there.

For this fight I am slightly more nervous, the travelling to a different country is all new to me but I will adjust to it and be ok when I’m in the ring. I'm very excited about this fight and I will be a little more nervous as I've never boxed away from home before, but this is something I've got to do to increase my fan base and my name. I don’t want to tell my grand-kids that I didn’t fight the very best of my era. I just want to fight whoever the public see as the best.

606v2: Welterweight is possibly the most talent-stacked division ever. Are there any particular welterweights from years gone by that you'd have loved to fight and test yourself against?

KB: I'd love to see how I would have got on against Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Tommy 'Hitman' Hearns in my prime, and see how I compare to them.

606v2: Kell, the breakdown between you and Warren - what really happened, and who is to blame? We've had his side, what's yours? Also, the Matchroom stable seems to be increasing at a rapid rate. How does the Hearn experience compare to the Warren one?

KB: I don’t want go into it too much but he couldn’t come up with the goods that were in the contract. In the interests of my progression I felt I needed to move on.

In terms of how Matchroom compares to my last stable there is a much better atmosphere and we get to go to bigger events. Eddie Hearn sees me a lot, we all meet up and have a laugh, and then get down to business come fight time. Matchroom is more fun and family like, I can phone up Eddie or any one of the other fighters in the stable any time and talk about anything and everything, not just boxing.

606v2: How are you finding weight-making? You're a fairly heavily-muscled welterweight, do you think your frame could carry weight just as effectively at light-middleweight? Or do you see yourself staying at 147 lb for all of / most of your career?

KB: I can definitely see myself moving up at some point. I have no problem making welterweight at all but could quite easily move up to light-middlweight, middleweight or even super-middleweight in the future. I want to win world titles at this weight and dominate the division before stepping up, though.

606v2: Is it true that you all used to practice the flip over the ropes that Naseem Hamed made so famous at Ingle’s gym? Do you see much of Naz these days?

KB: I used to walk the length of the gym on my hands, doing flips and other acrobatic stuff that Brendan got us to do. I was one of a few who could do the flip over the rope. I had the flip better than Naz, or at least as good as him, I reckon! I did it daily! I never thought of doing it in ring as that’s just not me, I don’t want to mimic or copy Naz. I don’t see Naz as much these days as he's in London, but I bump into him occasionally.

606v2: How much do you know about your upcoming opponent, Luis Galarza? What do you expect to see from him that you maybe haven’t seen before?

KB: I can see him being aggressive, he will be expecting me to come over to the USA and be nervous, and will want to show he's the boss over there. Hes a hot headed Puerto Rican that can punish me and is dangerous. I'm going for a war, and I want to impress. I'm not taking a backward step, so it's going to be very exciting.

606v2: What do you feel are your key strengths as a boxer?

KB: I'd say my main asset is my jab, which is what I think is needed to be a top boxer. The power is there, reflexes are there, I'd say I'm not bad overall but I never stop learning and always try and sharpen up my tools each time I'm in the gym.

606v2: What frustrates you most about boxing?

KB: Politics – some 'world champions' won't ever let anyone in, and it destroys boxing.

606v2: What is the hardest part about being a boxer?

KB: The sacrifices of not eating what you want to and not being able to be out late because you need to be getting rest. To be the best you have to put all those things aside and stay disciplined.

606v2: Are there any unorthodox training techniques that you use?

KB: The Wincobank gym is an unorthodox gym in general. The likes of Herol Graham, Johnny Nelson and Naz are the school of that gym. It is a switch hitting gym, and most of its fighters can naturally throw shots from both stances, so training there has always been unorthodox.

606v2: What do you think is required in order to improve the popularity of boxing, and bring it back to a wider audience?

KB: That’s a good one. I don’t really know – the best fights happening, champions fighting all comers. I think boxing needs to capture the public's imagination with the good guy/bad guy roles that get people interested. Subscription channels don't help, either.

606v2: Who is your favourite fighter currently active?

KB: Mayweather – he can fight, has charisma, has arrogance, he is just the full package. Hardcore boxing fans all watch his every move, he's the main man.

606v2: What do you enjoy doing outside of boxing?

KB: I just enjoy doing normal things. Going out and having nice meals, going to the cinema and going on nice holidays.

606v2: If you had one piece of advice for a youngster aspiring to be a boxer, what would it be?

KB: Eat disciplined, listen whilst in the gym, and absorb everything you’ve been taught. Always give 100% effort and be focussed upon where you want to go. Make sure you train hard so that the fights are easy. Study the game and don’t cut corners. [606v2: At this point, Kell laughs at this author as he tells him that he finds one round of sparring to be the most difficult thing in the world - seems I won't be getting signed for Matchroom just yet!]

606v2: And finally, to end on a light note, if there was one celebrity you could land a free punch on, who would it be?

KB: Floyd Mayweather!! You've got a license to print your own money if you take him out!!

606v2: Ha! Thanks very much for taking part in this Q&A Kell, and all the best for your upcoming fight.

KB: Thanks very much.

Does he have a history of hatred, then?

No place for such language here.

Just out of interest why were no questions asked about his antics outside of boxing a couple of years ago?

You asked him about his split with Warren and if he had slated Warren you would have put it on the page. His antics outside the ring did have an effect on his career at the time and may have been a factor in what held him back.

To be honest, SRR, I had completely forgotten about Kell's issues outside of the ring last year.

As it is, I doubt he would have wanted to drag those back up a week before his first fight in America anyway, but you're right they probably did hold him back a little.

As with all things though, I don't think that someone's personal life should be scrutinised by people like us. Nobody is perfect outside of their chosen profession, and as a boxing fan I only care about what Kell does inside the ring. I don't give a monkeys if he has misbehaved outside of it. It isn't ideal for someone in the public eye, but it is nothing to do with me and I don't really care as long as he entertains me when he steps inside those ropes.

Yeah it is true, I don't think it's right for us to want to pry into peoples personal life like that. I've done some stupid things on nights out and wouldn't want the world knowing them!

Exactly, Alex. He is a boxer, not a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, and as such I will show interest in his in ring exploits, not whether he has helped the local old lady across the road or not.

Mate I'm not criticising Kell he's an angel compared to me. I just meant ask him about it in terms of if he felt it held him back a bit without going into details. No reason to go into the guys private life but sometimes private life can affect their life in the ring.

Fists of Fury wrote:Exactly, Alex. He is a boxer, not a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, and as such I will show interest in his in ring exploits, not whether he has helped the local old lady across the road or not.

But they are one and the same. Two fights cancelled because he was arrested the night before them has a direct impact on his ring exploits.

It's like avoiding mentioning Kirkland going to jail when interviewing him because it's nothing to do with his in ring exploits.

Brook's run-ins with the law and other issues reduced him to four fights in two years, which is nothing for a rising star. A question about whether he feels that hindered his career or not.

Yes, I dislike Brook, and I wasn't aware this was the WI forum when I expressed it in a frankly modest way considering the filters on this site. My dislike comes from having met him a few times, rather than reading a fawning interview.