“Middle. Super middle. Around them weights,” Brook said to talkSPORT Boxing when discussing his return.
The choice of weight gives a strong indication of what may be behind the move. When Chris Eubank Jr.’s name was put to Brook, he didn’t dismiss it.
“Who knows, brother? Who knows? I’ve got a feeling, baby. It could be. Who knows? But I’m telling you now, it’s going to be announced soon.”
If Eubank is the opponent, the financial attraction is easy to understand. The physical gamble Brook would be taking is harder to overlook.
He hasn’t fought since stopping Amir Khan in February 2022. Training every day and looking fit doesn’t reproduce the timing, reactions and ability to absorb punches that are tested in actual fights. Four years is a long absence for any boxer. Returning at 40 makes it considerably tougher.
Putting additional weight on his body won’t make him a natural at 168 either. His best work came at 147 pounds, where he won the IBF title and made three successful defenses.
Brook has experience jumping divisions. He moved directly from welterweight to middleweight to challenge Gennadiy Golovkin in 2016. Brook had success early before Golovkin’s pressure and power took over, with the fight stopped in the fifth round after Brook suffered a fractured orbital bone.
Eubank isn’t Golovkin, and Brook isn’t the 30-year-old fighter who took that challenge.
A lucrative fight against Eubank would explain the comeback. The concern is what Brook must overcome to make it worthwhile: four years of inactivity, a 40-year-old body and an opponent naturally much bigger than the fighters he built his career beating.
