The UK’s Kell Brook made his second consecutive title defense against Frankie Gavin at the O2 Arena in London. The IBF welterweight champion Brook was sharp tonight and Gavin never offered up much more than glorfied sparring.
Brook dictated the pace from the opening bell by using his jab and distance. He was sharp and utilized the ring generalship that has escaped him in past outings. Kell Brook didn’t take a lot of chances early and he was slow to the trigger a few times, allowing Gavin to get in and look for shots, although he missed the ones that would’ve counted.
Gavin was just nearly aggressive enough to upset Brook’s rhythm and he wasn’t calculating enough to build his own momentum.
It was in the 4th where Brook turned up the heat a bit, but he was still executing a tremendous game plan while working behind a solid jab. Still, Brook wasn’t throwing with full intent and he appeared to be holding back a bit on his punches.
Brook was being meticulous and his punches were very unassuming. Gavin wasn’t being hit with obvious looking punches, but they were shots that were hurting. Gavin wasn’t carrying the punches well and it was starting to show on his face.
In round 6, Brook could see he was close, but he continued to pick his shots well, although he was taking a little bit more and throwing a little bit harder. Eventually, Brook hurt Gavin and swarmed him with his opponent’s back against the ropes. The referee jumped in and stopped it in the 6th.
This was Brook’s second successful title defense. Rumors have surfaced that he could be fighting Rios in the fall, but we’ll have to wait and see.
