Former world champion Kell Brook came back from the brink of retirement to score his first win in fourteen months on Saturday night.
‘The Special One’, fighting in front of a couple of thousand at his beloved Sheffield Arena, took out also-ran Mark DeLuca in the seventh round.
Taking two rounds to get going, Brook broke DeLuca’s nose. From then on he literally smelled blood.
Brook did ship a few too many punches in the fight. But that was expected having not fought in a decent class since 2017. Brook had also only fought twice since losing to Errol Spence back then.
In the end, the Yorkshireman put his foot on the gas. Brook took ‘Bazooka’ out after dropping him initially in the third.
During the contest, a ringside Liam Smith stated he was pushing promoter Eddie Hearn to make a fight with Brook next. The clash would make sense.
Kid Galahad is set for a second crack at the IBF featherweight title after overcoming Claudio Marrero in sound fashion.
The Yorkshireman, under the guidance of Dominic Ingle, put together the perfect foil for Marrero to give the Dominican no chance in the fight.
On the back of eight hard rounds, Marrero was pulled out by his corner.
Heavyweight Dave Allen is back in the win column. He blasted out Dorian Darch in the third round of what seemed to be a feeling out spar.
‘The White Rhino’ labored around the ring, dropping his guard at times. He then came to life after the second to get the job done.
Easy work for Allen who is looking for a Lonsdale Belt chance in the near future after a tough time of late.
Allen was beaten badly by David Price before going through some dark times later in 2019. Back and rejuvenated, Allen could fight for the vacant UK title after Daniel Dubois or Joe Joyce vacate upon the completion of their April bout.
Prior to the main event, Terri Harper added the WBC title to her IBO championship at super-lightweight with a unanimous decision over Eva Wahlstrom.
Martin J Ward continued to carve out his path to a super featherweight title shot with a dominant victory over Jesus Amparan.
The Brentwood native made it five wins on the spin due to a 100-88 points triumph. He immediately signalled his intentions to challenge for a world crown.
UK welterweight hope Anthony Tomlinson moved closer to a crack at a domestic belt with a ninth-round stoppage of Stewart Burt in their eliminator.
Tomlinson won his twelfth straight bout in the paid ranks. The 28-year-old can expect a crack at the British or Commonwealth title in 2020.
EARLY ACTION
Billy Joe Saunders protege Donte Dixon got the job done in four rounds against Eduardo Valverde.
Dixon can now boast a 3-0 record having registered a second career stoppage due to an onslaught against the ropes.
Super middleweight John Docherty pushed to 8-0 due to an easy victory over a highly-outclassed and dwarfed Pablo Mendoza.
Docherty got the job done at the very end of the first round. Realistically, Mendoza should never have been in there.
In the opener, Callum Beardow won a routine points decision 40-36. Furthermore, Beardow is now 2-0 in the cruiserweight ranks.
