Brook: "I will snooker 'The Bazooka' then get onto the big, big fights"
Wednesday 5 February 2020 16:26, UK
Kell Brook has "no quit" and still has "hunger", according to his upcoming opponent Mark DeLuca.
Former IBF welterweight champion Brook returns from a 14-month absence on Saturday night in his home city of Sheffield, live on Sky Sports Arena from 7pm, with questions to answer about whether he can return to world championship level.
"There's no quit in Kell," said DeLuca, a former US Marine nicknamed 'The Bazooka'.
"His two defeats were against two boogeyman, Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. He was the only man to step up and face that challenge so he's a game guy."
Brook sustained broken eye sockets in each of those defeats but DeLuca doesn't expect to find weakness: "No, I don't believe so. He's trying to get back to where he once was. That's a hunger that is still in him. But he has to get past me.
"I won't listen to the naysayers - I'm getting a dangerous and strong Kell Brook."
Saturday's fight is at super-welterweight and could propel Brook towards a shot at a title in a second division - the belts are held by Jeison Rosario (IBF and WBA), Jermell Charlo (WBC) and Patrick Teixeira (WBO).
Brook said about his inactivity in 2019: "Everything is for a reason. I probably wasn't ready. I was looking for the big fights but maybe mentally I wasn't there.
"I had time out - the phone wasn't ringing anymore, Eddie Hearn wasn't ringing anymore, I wasn't flavour of the month anymore.
"It's my time to prove why I am 'the Special One'. Why I belong where I belong. We'll see on Saturday night what I've got.
"This is my chance to show everyone that I'm back, and I'm 100 per cent mentally, physically, spiritually.
"This version of me has never been in the ring. I'm excited to see what I do."
Brook, aged 33, has previously mentioned retirement if he can't dispatch DeLuca this weekend and explained: "It does create extra pressure but I've been on the biggest stages. I'm an elite fighter and with the pressure comes the performances.
"I'm putting pressure on myself because I believe I will show up, I will get in there and be sensational."
The prospect of challenging a world champion or finally facing his rival Amir Khan later this year could be the reward if Brook can roll back the years in his home city on Saturday.
"They excite me, those fights. I've got fire in the belly, eye of the tiger! The fire is burning. I want to become a two-time world champion. All I need is the opportunity to get my hands on those belts.
"I will snooker 'The Bazooka' then get onto the big, big fights."
On Saturday's bill in Sheffield, live on Sky Sports Arena from 7pm, Kid Galahad fights Claudio Marrero in a final eliminator for the IBF featherweight title, Terri Harper challenges for the WBC super-featherweight title against Eva Wahlstrom, heavyweight Dave Allen returns and Kell Brook fights Mark DeLuca.
