Kell Brook walked away from boxing off the back of a long-awaited win, but the 40-year-old has admitted that there is one potential scrap which would bring him back, over four years since his last outing.
‘Special K’ defeated Shawn Porter to get his hands on the IBF welterweight world title back in 2014, making three defences of the belt before a bold move up to middleweight saw him suffer a defeat for the first time, when tasked with the legendary Gennady Golovkin.
Brook then returned to 147lbs to defend his IBF crown, but he was stopped by Errol Spence Jr at Bramall Lane, bringing his reign to an end. Yet, throughout all of his time in the sport, the one name on his lips was fierce rival Amir Khan, whom he finally faced in February 2022 and dominated in a stoppage win.
Both men retired after that night, but Brook was linked to a showdown with Conor Benn the following year, following a ringside altercation at a fight night in Dublin.
Speaking on the ‘Fight Your Corner’ podcast, Brook declared that he doesn’t know whether Benn every truly wanted the fight, believing he could have been using it just as a way to build his profile.
“There were talks about it, but I don’t know if he were just keeping himself in the media because he was still going through what he was going through. He might have just wanted his name up there. This is boxing, isn’t it? You know how boxing is.”
Benn has since moved on and is set to challenge Ryan Garcia for the WBC welterweight world title in September. Although, if he comes up short and is looking for a comeback opponent, Brook stated that he would have no issue renewing that rivalry and getting the fight done.
“Yeah, I could get up for that [Benn fight, if he loses to Garcia]. It would be massive.”
Garcia-Benn takes place on Saturday, September 12, with cruiserweight Jai Opetaia expected to appear on the undercard.
