The 28 year-old started brightly and picked off a static Dan at will as the title holder eased his way through the first round with minimal fuss. In the second session, Dan was hurt and went down unsteadily as his legs began to fail him from Brooks hard and accurate right hands.
Dan, 33, was down again before the end of the round and immediately headed for survival mode as Brook attempted to find that one punch that could end it all. More of the same followed in the third as Dan began to mark up before Brook put the challenger down again in the fourth and a further time at the very end of the session.
Although the Romanian was allowed to continue by referee Earl Brown, Dan’s corner had other ideas and pulled their man out before the start of the fifth.
‘The Special One’ proved once again that he does belong in the upper echelons of the division on the back of his superb win over Shawn Porter last year, and Brook will now be chasing a mega-unification fight with the winner of Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao on May 2.
