Kell Brook recorded a six round stoppage of Frankie Gavin in the second defence of his IBF World Welterweight title at The O2, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Brook looked every inch a world ruler as he bossed his Birmingham foe from the off, and while the former World Amateur king gamely stuck with the Sheffield star, but in the sixth round the champion quickly ended matters with a brutal and sustained attack on the ropes.
Gavin actually landed a crisp shot of his own but Brook’s riposte shook Gavin to the core and the champion did not let him off the hook – not letting the 29 year old get out of his range and referee Steve Gray halted the contest with nine seconds of the sixth round to go with Gavin slumped on the ropes.
Brook took his unbeaten record to 35-0 and said that the best is yet to come as promoter Eddie Hearn revealed a late-August date for his third defence.
“There are many more things to come from me,” said Brook. “In the dressing room the adrenaline wasn’t running and I was excited. But it is a big show and I knew I had to go out and perform. I want big, big fights now
“You’ll have to speak to Eddie. It is getting boring now, me and Amir Khan. He doesn’t want to hear it. I have the title so why not come and fight me. Frankie had the cojones to get in a fight with me so I take my hat off to him.
“Frankie is very crafty and they smart in the ring so I knew he would be tricky for a few rounds but I knew it would be a matter of time until I nailed him.
“I know he won the worlds in the amateurs so I was texting my skills against him. He is a very talented boxer and I have just told him that.
“We were just about to put the foot down on the gas. We could see Frankie was tiring with some of the shots we were catching him with and I came up with a good shot and capitalised on it.”
Frankie Gavin added: “I am alright. I know what the ‘chocolate brownie right hand’ is all about now. He is strong, he is very good. I wasn’t going to go down easy and he caught me with a good two shots in the second round.
“I would have carried on then. He is a fantastic fighter but I will be back; I am really enjoying my boxing. I have lived the live this year better than I have ever lived it and nothing is going to change now. I will come back stronger.
“I have no regrets, not at all. I fought for a World title and didn’t disgrace myself, I did as well as I could. I will be back and hopefully I will have another shot soon.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn: “Frankie stepped up to fight one of the best Welterweights in the world and deserves a lot of credit. He has the European title to deal with as well. This is the stage he belongs but he came up against a very, very strong, powerful Welterweight in Kell Brook. He took shot at that is what this is about.
“It is deja vu, we did this in Sheffield nine weeks ago. Everybody wants Brook against Khan but what can you do? He is waiting for Floyd Mayweather but that fight isn’t happening in September. Apparently he thinks it could happen next May.
“It is a waiting game and it is disappointing for the British public because Kell Brook wants to fight Amir Khan. We get excited about it but lose the excitement when you can’t see it happening. We look on, we look at the likes of Brandon Rios, Keith Thurman, Manny Pacquiao. August 29 was pencilled in before Gavin, potentially at Bramall Lane in Sheffield – he needs those big fights and those big names from America to come over. At the end of august or beginning of early September in Sheffield we need to bring him a big name now.”
