Kell Brook is no longer on a two fight losing streak following his quick destruction of Sergey Rabchenko today at home in Sheffield, England. The former welterweight titleholder looked sharp, engaged, and dangerous in his junior middleweight debut.
Recent reports have featured Kell Brook (37-2, 26 KOs) admitting that he suffered with depression following losing his title to Errol Spence Jr ten months ago in May. That was his second consecutive defeat following his entertaining but ill fated move to middleweight to challenge Gennady Golovkin the year before. It was also the second consecutive time he suffered from a fractured eye socket, having had it happen on each side in those fights. Though depression is complicated and multifaceted, he probably feels at least somewhat better after his performance today.
Brook didn’t look hesitant here against Rabchenko at all. He did not fight like a man who needed to protect his face. The Belorussian’s excitement made him ineffective anyway. Rabchenko wanted to engage, but his shots were crude and too wild to bother a world class talent like Kell Brook. After peppering Rabchenko at will in the first round, Brook landed a monstrous uppercut in the second. It had Sergey in all sorts of trouble. A few shots later put him down. When Rabchenko rose to beat the count, he was in no condition to continue and the fight was rightfully stopped.
With the win, Kell Brook now hold’s the WBC’s secondary version of Jermell Charlo’s junior middleweight title. It isn’t the same as being named a mandatory challenger exactly, but the belt does eventually lead to a world title shot for the man holding it. I don’t think anyone would complain about Kell Brook versus Jermell Charlo.
Also on the card, former secondary titleholder Gavin McDonnell (19-1-2, 5 KOs) spoiled Gamal Yafai’s (14-1, 7 KOs) move up in class with an unexpectedly one sided win. I thought the scores that came back at 116-112 twice and 117-113 were actually a little generous for Yafai. Kid Galahad (24-0, 15 KOs) also scored an impressive knockout over Irving Berry (23-8-2, 10 KOs) that will be gracing highlight reels for some time. Seek that one out if you didn’t see it.
