Unbeaten IBF welterweight champion Kell Book (35-0, 24 KOs) of the United Kingdom will defend his world title versus former world title challenger Diego Chaves (23-2-1, 19 KOs) of Argentina. The main event will take place October 24th in at the Sheffield Arena, in Brook’s native Sheffield, Yorkshire. This will be the third defense of his world title that he won from Shawn Porter back in 2013. Chaves will be Brook’s toughest world title defense yet by far.
Chaves has no signature wins but his 2 losses and a draw have actually put him on the map. His first career loss was to unbeaten Keith Thurman. Chaves gave Thurman is toughest challenge to date before being stopped late in the fight. He was disqualified in his fight with Brandon Rios in a fight he was actually winning on two of judges’ official scorecards. In his last fight vs. world champion Timothy Bradley he pushed the champion to the limits and had Bradley’s eye badly swollen in route to a draw decision. Chaves is unlikely to be phased fighting Brook on the latter’s home turf. He has shown that he can fight outside of Argentina and compete with the best of them.
This can be a very dangerous fight for Brook. He without a doubt knows what Chaves has been able to do versus elite fighters in the welterweight division. Brook feels without a doubt that he is amongst the best at welterweight if not the best. He may won’t to prove a point by dominating Chaves. He may be better served at just securing the victory. Brook has looked outstanding in his last few fights. Should he continue this trend versus Chaves it can definitely put the others in his division on notice. Should Floyd Mayweather Jr. indeed stay retired then Brook’s name could elevate his status to be amongst those mentioned as the heir apparent. This all begins for Brook by taking care of business with Chaves and in impressive fashion.
