Undefeated British welterweight Kell “Special K” Brook (24-0, 16 KOs) puts that unbeaten status, along with a minor belt in the WBA hierarchy, on the line Saturday night in his hometown of Sheffield, Yorkshire against Rafal Jackiewicz (38-9-1, 19 KOs) of Poland.
Brook has held regional or minor titles for the past four years, during which time he has beaten a litany of fringe contenders and journeymen, most recently Lovemore Ndou on June 25. Considering Ndou’s main claim to fame is losing to good-to-great fighters (Saul Alvarez, Matthew Hatton, Kermit Cintron, Paulie Malignaggi, and Miguel Cotto all have Ndou on their list of scalps), that may be the edge that tippers need to predict the outcome of this fight.
Rafal Jackiewicz is best known to American fight fans as the guy who got a wholly undeserved home-cooking decision over Delvin Rodriguez, but the Minsk Mazowiecki, Poland native also has a win over former world titlist Jan Zaveck (who held that title until Andre Berto took it from him last month) to his credit. A guy who has fought for a world title will be a continued step up in competition for Kell Brook; this is no mere sack of potatoes in front of him, but the fight is not expected to be competitive, especially in front of Brook’s hometown fans.
This fight will be televised in the UK on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD1 at 2030 British Summer Time.
