This is the look of a man saying “You are something special.”
And when Kell Brook is mentioned, the Special comes with a capital S.
Eddie Hearn admitted he was overcome with emotion when he witnessed the sensational return of the Sheffield fighter.
Brook took apart Sergey Rabchenko on Saturday night at the FlyDSA Arena in his home city to win the WBC Silver light-middleweight title on his debut at 154lbs.
It was an amazing riposte to two very painful defeats to two top fighters, the incredible Gennady Golovkin for the world middleweight title and to Errol Spence back at welterweight for the IBF crown.
So Hearn was knocked out by the 31-year-old’s display against the much-vaunted fighter from Belarus.
“There’s a lot of history for me and Matchroom with Kell and that emotion spilled out after that brilliant win on Saturday,” said Hearn.
“He’s one of the first fighters I signed and the GGG and Spence losses plus the injuries have been hard for everyone, and Saturday night was a massive moment for the career of Kell Brook.
“If he’d lost the fight it was all over, if he didn’t look good it was probably all over, if he’d been injured it was probably all over. The way he dispatched Rabchenko with the sharpness and the combinations, it was great.
“There was a brilliant energy in the Arena and that was all generated because Kell Brook brings excitement every time he boxes.
“I’ve always believed that Kell Brook is one of the biggest talents in world boxing – but I’ve also always believed he was boxing at the wrong weight.
“Kell always thought he could do 147lbs and in this day and age of social media, he was almost goaded into getting back to 147lbs to defend his title against Spence after fight GGG at 160lbs, people saying he was ducking Spence if he vacated and he wouldn’t do that. Take nothing from Errol Spence, but I believe Kell beats him at 154.
“There’s some World class fighters at 154lbs, the champions are all elite and there’s some brilliant other fighters in the top five, but Kell can beat them all and be the man, Brook is a bigger name than Charlo but he’s the champion, so make us an offer
“Rabchenko is a World class fighter but he’s not elite level, Kell proved he’s an elite level fighter and we need another step-up in June or July and then we’re ready for the big stuff in the winter.”
Hearn believes that Brook has turned his life around over the winter, culminating in that second-round stoppage.
“I was with Kell in October/November time and he was not in a good place,” added Hearn. “He was so overweight and he was going out and he didn’t care about boxing.
“He felt that a lot of the criticism he was getting was harsh but with the people around him and getting back into the gym, he realised that boxing saves him – he needs it in his life.”
Words: Roy Kelly Pictures: Lawrence Lustig/ Matchroom