Stabbed in Tenerife, Kell Brook now tortures himself in Fuerteventura to get down to welterweight

The Sheffield-born IBF champion is preparing for his return to the ring at Bramall Lane on Saturday night

Brook's return will be staged at Bramall Lane, home of his beloved Sheffield United (Getty)

In his vest, shorts and flip-flops, looking out over the Atlantic from the terrace at the Sheraton, Kell Brook does not look too dissimilar from any other holidaymaker in Fuerteventura.

But while to most this corner of the world means sun, sea, sand and a welcome break from everyday life, to Brook it represents pain. Pure pain.

He has used this particular Canary Island for his training camps since 2012 when a tortuous fortnight beneath the scorching sun helped inspire him to a third round stoppage victory over Hector Saldivia.

The mental and physical torment experienced during training camps, however, pales into insignificance against what happened to Brook just across the water on a desperate September night on the island of Tenerife in 2014.

It was supposed to be a celebration. Brook and his partner Lindsey, who was heavily pregnant at the time, were on holiday reflecting on his victory over Shawn Porter just three weeks earlier, which had crowned the Sheffield man champion of the world.

But, after sending Lindsey home to bed one evening, Brook stayed out long into the night and ended up at an apartment in the Golf der Sur area. It is said he was stabbed there, but that perhaps does not do justice to the machete attack which might have cost him a leg.

Nearly three years on, Brook insists the four-hour flight to Furteventura no longer contains flashbacks of his most difficult trip to the Canaries but, never mind the thick, dark scar across his leg, he says that night changed him forever.

“Has what happened had a lasting effect on my life?” he says, retreating from the sun beneath a canopy. “Absolutely it did.

“You take it for granted don't you? If you break your arm or something like that, it makes you realise how lucky you were before it was broken.

“It has definitely done something to me and how I live my life. I could have never walked again - or died. I'm just happy to be in this position and where I am today.

“You never stop learning and everything that has happened in my career, my ups and downs, mean I know myself now. I know that taking myself out of certain situations is working for me. I think I'm realising how I tick now.

It is Brook's first return to the ring since losing to Gennady Golovkin last year (Getty)

“Tenerife is just across the water but it doesn't really enter my head when I have other things going on in my life. I don't really sit back and think about what happened that night. I've closed the book on that one and opened a new chapter since then.”

For now, Brook has enough on his mind as he contemplates what he describes as the toughest fight of his career, when he takes on undefeated and highly rated American Errol Spence Jr at Bramall Lane on Saturday.

It is Brook's return to welterweight, where he still holds the IBF belt won from Porter, following his sojourn to middleweight which ended in defeat and a fractured eye socket at the hands of the great Gennady Golovkin.

This camp, therefore, has included a hellish weight cut in order to make the 147lb limit. Despite that, in the 12-week camp's closing stages, Brook is in good spirits.

His training base is in the Castillo Caleta de Fuste region, on the island's eastern coast, a decent drive away from the popular tourist haven of Corralejo in the north. It's far quieter here, which is just how Brook likes it.

Kell Brook looks on in defeat to Gennady Golovkin after their World Middleweight Title contest at The O2 Arena (Getty)

“There are no distractions,” he says. “The weather is spot on and you're just focused when you're out here.

“It's about cutting everything away. When I'm at home there are friends wanting to knock about with you and you've got a lot of family commitments. My Mrs doesn't work but she might be having her nails done or whatever, then I've got to have the kids for an hour or two here and there.

“I can't be doing that with a fight like this. I can't be tied up. That's my life back home but here there are no distractions.”

While Brook uses the spa at the Sheraton for recovery, his training is done at a modest gym in the town. You would guess very few of the locals realise one of the world's best boxers trains there.

Brook saunters in at around 11:30am, wearing nothing but a pair of bright red cycling shorts, revealing a physique which looks like it's carved out of something between granite and copper. “He's on time for once,” the gym's owner grins.

Despite the hot sun, it is reasonably cool and airy inside the facility, which has two rings, a collection of punch bags and just about every machine any weightlifter could think of.

His indomitable trainer, Dominic Ingle, takes charge through a punishing workout on the pads, during which Brook boxes in both orthodox and southpaw. “He can fight however he likes,” Ingle says. Out of the window, the next door neighbour clears the remnants of her brunch from the patio table.

It was a surprise to many that Brook decided to drop back down to welterweight having taken on Golovkin two divisions up. For a man who has historically struggled at the weight anyway, he seemed to be asking for trouble.

“To be honest, I thought after going up to middleweight and putting all that muscle on, it would be absolutely terrible getting back down this time,” he adds. “It is terrible but I thought it would be a lot harder.

“I'm happy, smiling, drinking plenty of water and eating a lot of food but still making welterweight. The team have worked me out.

Brook thinks his fight with Spence will be the toughest of his career (Getty)

“I'm not looking forward to meals and enjoying the taste of them, I just use them as fuel. It's all about the mindset.

“It gets really in depth on the nutrition side of things but I just get given a plate and I just eat what's on it. I don't think much more about it.”

Brook returns from his Canarian retreat this week for the usual pre-fight obligations and, having been away from Sheffield for so long, he will be a man in-demand.

So he is planning on keeping a low profile away from the city, as he counts down to what could be his career-defining night.

“I'll see my Mrs and stay a night or two at home but I will probably stay for most of it in a hotel just out of town to try and stay away from everything,” he adds.

“That way I can concentrate on the job in hand. I've got to make sure it's spot-on for this one, I can't afford to make any mistakes against Spence.

“This has been a good adventure and I'm looking forward to this fight, fighting at Bramall Lane and being back home. It hasn't been done since 1984 when Herol 'Bomber' Graham did it.

“This is new history. I am so ready.”

Sky Sports Box Office will show Brook v Spence Jr exclusively live. Order at: skysports.com/brook