Sheffield, England's Kell Brook went through his paces at a media day in London ahead of February 8th’s show at the FlyDSA Arena. After sitting out all of 2019, Brook returns to face Massachusetts junior middleweight Mark DeLuca (24-1). Brook, a former IBF welterweight champion, is looking to prove that he is still a force to be reckoned with at both 154 or 147 pounds. A win sets up some big fights for Brook later this year but the American will be no easy touch, having only been stopped once in his 25 professional outings. DeLuca avenged his only loss, to Walter Wright, in an immediate rematch. 

 

Speaking ahead of his February 8th return, Brook said: “I feel great, I feel good. We’re four weeks out, I’m on weight, my training is going great. I’m ready to fight, I’d be ready to fight next week. It feels good to be preparing for a fight again. I’m fighting back in Sheffield, we know what we get from the fans – amazing support. It’s always an amazing atmosphere in the arena.

 

“DeLuca is in front of me, an ex-Marine, a very fit fighter, very strong, he’s going to come over here like it’s his World Title fight. The fans are in for a real treat and I can’t wait to give them that treat. I can’t wait to perform and for the crowd to get behind me and push me on.

 

“Dom has watched DeLuca live a few times and I’ve seen little bits of him. I don’t really watch tapes of my opponents but I’ll watch a bit more of him in the next couple of weeks and then basically just listen to Dom and the game plan. The it’s just about getting in there and executing it.

 

“At the beginning of last year it was frustrating because I was trying to get the Terence Crawford fight to happen. I was trying to make a few fights happen but they never materialised. 2019 was frustrating at first but then I was just enjoying my time with my little girls, went travelling about a little bit but then I started getting a bit bored and thought boxing is where I belong and I need to give some more of myself to the fans. I’ve got unfinished business and I want to give all I’ve got.

 

“I want whoever holds a belt, I want to be a two-time world champion this year. I want to be on everybody’s lips, ‘I can’t believe what this guy’s done. I can’t believe it. What’s happened? He’s the main man again’. That’s what I’m aiming for.”