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Kell Brook makes it look easy as he defends title against Frankie Gavin at O2 on a night not to be forgotten

Brook could fight Amir Khan next but it is only a remote possibility

Steve Bunce
Monday 01 June 2015 06:04 BST
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Kell Brook takes on Frankie Gavin
Kell Brook takes on Frankie Gavin

Kell Brook left the ring at the O2 in London without any scars on a night of tears, heartache, knockouts and cuts that will not be forgotten by any of the 18,000 people in attendance.

Brook was too strong for Birmingham’s Frankie Gavin in their IBF welterweight title and, after a few adjustments, finally found the punches in round six to persuade the referee, Steve Gray, to stop the fight. Last September, Brook was left for dead after a vicious machete attack in Tenerife and on Saturday he defended his title for the second time in just 56 days to confirm his joyous return.

Gavin remains the only British amateur boxer to have won a world amateur title, but his victory in 2007 was at a much lighter weight and perhaps now he will have to talk to the scientists about shifting 7lb; Gavin is not a strong welterweight and Brook is possibly the strongest in the world right now.

Brook will fight again at the end of the summer. A bout against Amir Khan, a winner on Friday night in New York, is only a remote possibility, but there is a list of suitable, durable and dangerous Americans that could, in theory, be enticed to Sheffield, where Brook has a devoted flock. Khan, meanwhile, will find out in the next few days if he has secured a fight with Floyd Mayweather for early September.

Kell Brook (left) and Frankie Gavin in their IBF World welterweight title fight at the O2 Arena.

In the minutes before Brook entered the ring, Anthony Joshua had left after his 13th consecutive knockout, this time against the American, Kevin Johnson. The fight lasted less than two rounds and the beaten man was left scratching his aching head in amazement; even with Johnson’s age, a long break from the ring, an injured elbow and the wrong tactics, it was still a great win for Joshua.

The truth is that on a night of “blood, guts and tears”, as fabled ring announcer Michael Buffer described it, the Brook and Joshua fights were routine compared with four of the other title contests. This was a truly brutal evening of boxing, rare because of the relentless savagery of each and every fight.

The best performance was by Lee Selby, a low-key boxer from Barry Island, in his attempt to win the IBF featherweight title from the unbeaten Russian Evgeny Gradovich. Selby was quite astounding, brilliant, and in round eight, with a deep cut by the side of Gradovich’s left eye, it was over and Selby was the world champion. Gradovich had previously defended his title four times, but at the O2 he failed to win a round, looked like a drunk sparring partner at times and was saved from a knockout by the wound. Selby’s win will resonate deeply in America, where Gradovich and his all-action style made him an attraction.

The cuts, bruises and disfigurement on Kevin Mitchell’s face were extreme even by the excesses of the boxing game, but up until the moment of his stoppage he was still in the fight with Jorge Linares for the WBC lightweight title.

Kevin Mitchell at the O2

This brawl would be a contender for fight of the year in any year and as Mitchell finally slumped to the canvas in round 10, there was a mixed feeling of relief and despair at ringside; from my privileged seat in row two, in front of the spot where he had fallen, I screamed at Mitchell to stay down when he tried to get up. It was a shockingly emotional fight, the type where everybody stands.

Mitchell was cut across his nose, which looked broken; there was a cut by the side of his right eye; the left eyelid was an open gash; and a sickening right hand at the start of round 10 caused an instant swelling, the size of a golf ball, to form on his left eyebrow. He fought for more than two minutes in a blind and dazed fury until collapsing with just three seconds of the round left; Mitchell was leading on two of the three scorecards, but it was Linares who left with the belt.

Stoppages and cuts featured in both the British middleweight title fight, won by Nick Blackwell in the sixth against John Ryder, and the Commonwealth light-welter fight, where Rocky Ryan survived two knockdowns to knock out John Wayne Hibbert in round nine.

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