Finally, at long last, Brook will get his world title shot this year... and we'll try to get Bellew another one too

  • Kell Brook set to receive an IBF world title shot
  • The Sheffield boxer will fight winner of Paulie Malignaggi v Shawn Porter
  • Brook had been due to face Devon Alexander for world title
  • Tony Bellew won on Saturday and will hopefully get another title fight
  • Ricky Burns will return to the ring on June 27 in Glasgow
  • Carl Froch v George Groves should have an 80,000 crowd at Wembley

By Eddie Hearn

PUBLISHED: 18:00 EST, 18 March 2014 | UPDATED: 18:00 EST, 18 March 2014

Kell Brook got the job done at the weekend and now I think we are about to see Britain’s next great world champion. He is going to get what I believe he deserves – that title shot.

We were told by the IBF last week that they have ruled on Shawn Porter, their champion. With Porter fighting Paulie Malignaggi on April 19, both men must now sign an agreement with the IBF that the winner will fight Brook within 90 days. Before July 19, I expect him to have his shot and to be a world champion.

Dominant: Kell Brook thrashed Alvaro Robles at the Echo Arena on Saturday

Dominant: Kell Brook thrashed Alvaro Robles at the Echo Arena on Saturday

Date with destiny: The Sheffield boxer is set to earn a long-awaited world title shot

Date with destiny: The Sheffield boxer is set to earn a long-awaited world title shot

Like I wrote in a previous column, this is a guy who has had nothing but bad luck when it has come to world title shots. The postponements of his fight with Devon Alexander devastated him. I was with him watching Alexander’s fight with Porter when Alexander lost and with it went Brook’s scheduled title challenge. The look on his face.

Now he is going to get what he deserves and I promise you it will be special. This guy has as much talent as any British fighter. When he is properly motivated he will beat anyone.

The fight against Alvaro Robles was designed to blow away the cobwebs and break up his camp for the title shot. Now he will go straight back into training. Who will he face? It’s a tough one. You have to say Porter is the favourite, but if it’s Malignaggi who wins then I think a fight between him and Brook is big enough to hold here in the UK. I am keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

Trio: Paulie Malignaggi (left) has fought Amir Khan (right) and Ricky Hatton and could soon face Brook

Trio: Paulie Malignaggi (left) has fought Amir Khan (right) and Ricky Hatton and could soon face Brook

Frustration: Brook had been due to fight American Devon Alexander for a world title

Frustration: Brook had been due to fight American Devon Alexander for a world title

 

Tony Bellew is one of my favourite fighters. He has had it hard, but he has as much heart as anyone in the sport.

He won on Saturday and so we are looking at getting him that third shot at a world title. I am sure he is destined to win one and when he does it will make all the struggling worthwhile. I think the biggest step has already been taken and that was moving him from light heavyweight to cruiserweight.

At the weigh-in on Friday he was 14st 1Ib – about a stone and a half more than what he used to weigh in at. He will be a real force at cruiserweight and I am already in discussions with Sauerland about a potential fight with WBO champions Marco Huck. He is ranked with the WBC and WBO so we are looking at title shots down both avenues and we always have an eye on Nathan Cleverly.

Trilogy: Tony Bellew is set to receive another world title shot after his win at the Echo Arena on Saturday

Trilogy: Tony Bellew is set to receive another world title shot after his win at the Echo Arena on Saturday

Cruise: Bellew beat Russian Valery Brudov in a cruiserweight bout in Liverpool

Cruise: Bellew beat Russian Valery Brudov in a cruiserweight bout in Liverpool

 
   

More from Eddie Hearn...

Losing to Cleverly hurt Tony and he’d love another go at him. That would be another huge domestic fight and I think it would have a different result at this weight.

Tony is such a lovely guy and he works so hard because he wants it so badly. At light-heavyweight he was a different person almost. He would get down to that weight and he would be a shell of himself and I also feel that he wasn’t given a full apprenticeship before he fought Cleverly. The fights he has had since, like Edison Miranda, Roberto Bolanti and Isaac Chilemba, he should have had before he was put in with Cleverly.

Now we are getting him the right apprenticeship at this weight. Seeing him last week at this weight, he is so much more comfortable. He has a bit of work to do on his body, but he has enough power to blow anyone away at this weight. He is a happier fighter, a better fighter and with one more fight I think he will be ready for Huck.

I will deliver him that third title shot and I am confident it will be third time lucky.
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I can reveal here that Ricky Burns will return to the ring on June 27 in Glasgow.

I am still looking at opponents but I can tell you I am talking to the likes of WBA champion Richar Abril, the WBA champion, and Miguel Vazquez, who holds the IBF belt, and WBC champion Omar Figueroa.

I am also looking at the winner of the big domestic fight between Ant Crolla and John Murray next month. I might have wanted to pitch Ricky back in at a slightly lower level after he lost his title against Terence Crawford, but Ricky wants a title and is demanding a big fight. I will give him one.

Anthony Joshua will be on the undercard – they love him up there.

Back in action: Ricky Bruns will return to the ring on June 27 in Glasgow

Back in action: Ricky Bruns will return to the ring on June 27 in Glasgow

 

In terms of Carl Froch and George Groves, we are getting into the nitty-gritty now. We sold 60,000 tickets in a ridiculous time and I am told that we could have sold 100,000 tickets for this fight.

100,000! My hope now is to sell a further 20,000 a couple of weeks down the line, but first I need to have some discussions with TFL about the curfew times and a few details.

I am confident that will be resolved quite quickly and we will end up with 80,000 fans at ringside for what will be the biggest fight in the history of British boxing.

Interest: Around 60,000 tickets were sold for Carl Froch's rematch with George Groves inside an hour

Interest: Around 60,000 tickets were sold for Carl Froch's rematch with George Groves inside an hour

Grudge: The Cobra won the first meeting between the pair with a controversial stoppage

Grudge: The Cobra won the first meeting between the pair with a controversial stoppage

 

Froch-Groves might seem like an easy sell – it’s certainly a lot easier than selling double glazing.

When I was about 16, I used to leave college and go straight to a double glazing firm in Romford from 6pm to 8pm every night. I used to have go through the phone book and randomly call everyone I could, trying to get permission for our guys to go round and give them a quote.

When you get rejected 99 times out of 100, it makes you realise how tough it can be to sell things. Thankfully, with Froch and Groves we have a product that is a bit easier to shift. I’ll never get complacent because I don’t want to sell windows again!

 

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I think Kell will be well overmatched in a World Title fight. He hasn't fought anyone. It's lovely at the top in that ring against world class. Let's hope he gets Malignaggi. I personally think Huck would destroy Bellew. Bellew can't fool the fans anymore. He promises so much and then delivers average, very average boxing. He beat a journeyman at weekend and almost got stopped. He doesn't have the chin, the power, or the skills to win a world title. Neither does Cleverly. Cleverly was given his WBO world title and defended it against awful opposition. Cleverly, and I've said it before, will never ever recover mentally to what Kovalev did to him. Never.

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I don't rate Brook, he struggled against both Carson and Robles who are average fighters. He's just a decent british fighter but on the world stage is a nobody. Getting in the ring with Khan will end his career.

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Tony Bellew, lol. Always talks a great fight, tells the world how he'll fight to the deathm blah blah blah and comes up short everytime! Took two fights to "beat" Chilemba, got smashed up by Stevenson after causing ructions at the weigh-in, got beaten by Cleverly after causing ructions at the press conference and look bloated as a cruiserweight! Facing Cleverly coached by Adam Booth is a different prospect than facing a Cleverly coached by his dad, and Cleverly fought probably one of the three best pound for pound fighters on Earth- Bellew ain't in his class, full stop!

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Not keen on Brook I can't get behind a fighter who says he can't get motivated by certain fights.How about the fans who have to get motivated to go to work to pay for the tickets to watch him?He wants to be a world champion but he doesn't think or talk like one..can you imagine Mayweather having that attitude?

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That apprenticeship that Clev didn't get under a Warren. It sounds very liked the one you didn't give to Rees before throwing him in against Broner to get destroyed. And he's definitely never been the same fighter since.

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Get those Froch v Groves tickets sorted Eddie lad. The fans demand it

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