Kell Brook set for Sheffield homecoming

Posted on May 5, 2011 by William David Wilson

Kell Brook: set to fight in front of home supporters

Sheffield boxing star Kell Brook will return to his home city on 25 June for his next professional fight, his promoter Eddie Hearn has announced.

Hearn, the son of veteran sports promoter and chairman of Leyton Orient FC Barry, revealed on his Twitter account that his new charge would return home to fight former IBF light-welterweight world champion Lovemore N’dou in the summer.

The fight with the 39- year-old Sydney-based South African will take place at the Hillsborough leisure centre.

Brook recently left Frank Warren Promotions to sign a deal with Hearn’s Matchroom Sports. The 24-year-old had reportedly grown impatient with Warren’s inability to secure him either a world title shot or a big name fight to further his promising career.

Brook, who boasts 23 straight wins as a professional with 16 by way of knockout, met with Matchroom’s managing director Hearn in March and their positive discussions convinced the boxer to seek pastures new.

Indeed, it has been an excellent few weeks for Hearn and Matchroom sports, with WBC super- middleweight champion Carl Froch following Brook just a few days later in joining their roster.

It had been highly speculated that Brook’s next fight would be a world title shot or a major test, with a bout with unbeaten American Mike Jones widely touted; Miguel Cotto, Cornelius Bundrage and Paulie Malignaggi had also being mentioned.

Stiff challenge

N’dou (48, 12-2) certainly represents a stiffer challenge for Brook, but is perhaps is not the stellar name that many fight fans would have been hoping for the Sheffielder to take on. The veteran nonetheless has considerable pedigree at world level, despite his career being on the slide with his advancing years, and an impressive performance from Brook against a highly durable fighter who has never been stopped within the distance would earn him some kudos in the boxing world.

Vastly experienced, N’Dou has fought creditably against numerous high-level fighters, losing decisions to Miguel Cotto, Paulie Malignaggi (twice), Kermit Cintron and Bradford’s Junior Witter. He claimed a draw in November 2009 against Matthew Hatton. N’dou’s most recent outing was a wide points defeat to rising Mexican star Saul Alvarez at light-middleweight last December.

Out of action

Brook, the British and WBO Intercontinental welterweight champion, has also been out of action since December last year, when he knocked out Ghanaian journeyman Philip Kotey in just two rounds on the undercard of Warren’s Return of the Magnificent Seven bill in Liverpool.

The split with Warren appears to have been less than amicable, as the London based promoter hit out at Brook over the split in his weekly column.

“In the last week or so, I told Kell Brook I did not want to promote him anymore. I was fed up of constantly dealing with his father, rather than Kell himself,” he wrote.

“It felt like the situation that led to the breakdown of my relationship with Ricky Hatton.”

Another world title shot for Rhodes

Posted on March 28, 2011 by William David Wilson

Veteran boxer Ryan Rhodes will once again fight for a world title.

The Sheffield born southpaw has been pencilled in to take on the WBC world champion Saul Alvarez for his light-middleweight title in Guadalajara, Mexico on June 18th.

“We have chosen Ryan Rhodes (to fight Saul Alvarez) because he is the highest available contender,” the World Boxing Council president José Sulaimán announced this week.

Rhodes became the default challenger to the 20-year-old Alvarez as the Mexican’s compatriot Alfredo Angulo, who is ranked above Rhodes, is currently unavailable to fight.

The 34-year-old has challenged for the middleweight title before, losing narrowly on points to Otis Grant in 1997 for the WBO strap in Sheffield, and to Jason Matthews two years later for the interim belt.

Winning streak

But the popular Yorkshireman has turned his career around in the last four years, winning his last ten fights since a defeat against Welshman Gary Lockett back in 2006.

Rhodes has been on the brink of another title shot since picking up the European light-middleweight title by defeating Jamie Moore in October 2009, rising to No. 4 in the WBC rankings in the process.

His prospective opponent, Alvarez, 20, is seen as a rising star in the sport. The youngster convincingly defeated European titleholder Matthew Hatton to claim the vacant WBC title earlier this month in Anaheim, California. Legendary former fighter turned promoter Oscar De La Hoya has hailed the exciting red-haired Mexican as the next big thing in boxing.

Underdog

It is clear Rhodes will start as a massive underdog in the fight, particularly with it taking place in Alvarez’s home country. The Yorkshireman will likely receive a hostile reception from a partisan crowd.

But Rhodes will relish his underdog status as he takes on what will probably be his last chance at becoming a world champion.

Frustrating wait for Kell

Posted on March 13, 2011 by William David Wilson

Sheffield boxing star Kell Brook’s highly anticipated return to ring action has been put on hold while both contract and fight negotiations continue.

Frank Warren: in talks with Brook over renewing his contract

‘Special K’, who boasts 23 wins as a professional without defeat (16 coming by way of KO), is currently in talks over renewing his contract with boxing promoter Frank Warren, which is due to expire shortly.

And negotiations for sealing his next opponent have also been underway, with Warren in talks with renowned US promoter Bob Arum to secure the 24-year-old a big name which could take his career to another level.

Names mentioned so far for Brook to face include the unbeaten American Mike Jones, Cornelius Bundrage and Miguel Cotto. A fight with Puerto Rican powerhouse Cotto would certainly be a massive coup as well as a huge step up for Brook, and would raise his profile significantly worldwide. WBA super-welterweight champion Cotto defeated Ricardo Mayorga comfortably in Las Vegas at the weekend.

Indeed, though Brook won all three of his fights in 2010, most recently knocking out Ghanaian Philip Kotey in just two rounds in December, he is still a relative unknown in the UK outside of boxing enthusiasts, and has a minimal profile worldwide.

But after clinching the welterweight division’s Inter-Continental belt, and becoming the no. 1 ranked challenger in the World Boxing Organisation’s (WBO) rankings, it seemed the Owlerton born fighter could be about to change all that after being touted for a world title shot. But nothing has been signed yet.

Avoided

Brook’s father Terry exclusively told JUS News back in December that he feared his son was one of the most avoided fighters in the welterweight division, and that it would be difficult to find a suitable opponent.

“You never see anyone calling out Kell to fight him,” he said.

“Nobody wants to fight him because they know what the result will be”.

Perhaps in frustration at his lack of status in the UK and worldwide, Brook has become more vocal in the media of late. He recently called out fellow Brit Amir Khan, who has made great strides in the sport to become WBA champion and gain a significant profile stateside as well as in the UK. Khan has now fought in major bouts in Las Vegas and at New York’s Madison Square Garden against Marcos Maidana and Paulie Malignaggi respectively, perhaps to the envy of Brook.

The pair have sparred in the past and an intense rivalry is evident between the pair, Khan dismissing Brook’s prospective challenge on twitter and the Sheffielder attacking the Bolton born fighter’s ‘rubbish chin’ in a recent interview.

Khan currently campaigns a weight lower than Brook at light-welterweight, and is due to face unheralded Northern Irishman Paul McCloskey before almost certainly taking on American Timothy Bradley in the summer in his attempts to unify the division. Though a fight with Brook may yet be an option for the future providing Khan moves up a weight class.

Two people arrested in crackdown on city’s metal theft

Posted on February 28, 2011 by William David Wilson

metal theft is on the rise in Sheffield

Two people have been arrested as police officers and partners in Sheffield joined together to tackle metal thefts in the city.

The crackdown comes amid increasing concern from members of the public regarding such theft.

Along with the two arrests, the operation carried out on Wednesday 16 February saw 125 vehicles stopped, plus a significant quantity of what is believed to be stolen items recovered. Plus over 20 fixed penalty notices were issued for traffic offences and four vehicles seized for having no insurance.

The process involved officers checking vehicles travelling to scrap dealers to ensure no stolen goods were being carried and officers working closely with scrap dealers giving out crime reduction advice in a bid to tackle metal thefts.

Partners involved in the operation included Safer Neighbourhood Team officers, along with officers from specialist departments and partner agencies including Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) and the Environmental Enforcement from Sheffield City Council.

Good results

Inspector Jason Booth from the Woodhouse and Mosborough Safer Neighbourhood Teams praised the efforts of the partners in aiding the police crackdown.

“After responding to people’s concerns about metal theft, some on local forums, we have worked with a number of partners to achieve some really good results and we will be repeating this initiative again in the near future,” he said.

Superintendent Martin Hemingway added: “I am delighted with the outcome of this operation, which because of strong leadership and the positive approach of front line staff has been achieved without any significant extra costs.

“It shows that all of the partner agencies can find efficient ways of working together and delivering results for our communities even during times of austerity.”

If you know of anyone committing this type of crime please report it to South Yorkshire Police on 0114 2202020 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.