The Sheffield Arena hosts Kell Brook’s IBF Welterweight Title defense this Saturday as he faces IBF mandatory challenger Kevin Bizier. Brook is 35-0 and this will be the third defense of the world title he won in August of 2014 when he put the only blemish on Shawn Porter’s record. Bizier fights out of Canada and he brings a 25-2 record to the table. Brook was one of the fighters whose name was being tossed around for “big fights”, as many consider him the top wwelterweight active today. His name has been paired with that of Amir Khan on numerous occassions in what would be a major all-British showdown, but Khan scored the big money fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Brook was left out in the cold. Brook accepted the fight with Bizier because it has been nine months since he last fought and inactivity was getting to be a concern. he enters the fight a massive -7000 favorite, with Bizxier returning at +3000. Ther eis no over/under set. Bizier earned the shot with a November victory over Fredrick Lawson, who was 24-0 at the time. He went 2-0 in 2015. The two blemishes on his record come via a piair of split decision losses to Ionut Dan Ion. By comparison, Brook stopped Dan Ion in four rounds. The fight with Lawson was his first fight outside of Canada and this is his first time fighting in the United Kingdom. The co-feature sees Lightweight action as the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell attempts to bounce back from his first professional loss in his last outing. Here, he faces veteran Gary Sykes (28-4). Sykes has two losses on his record since the start of 2012, one being a loss to Terry Flanagan in the finals of a Prizefighter tournament where he had already beaten Anthony Crolla, and the second being to Liam Walsh at Super Featherweight. Crolla and Flanagan have gone on to grab pieces of the world title, and Walsh is still an undefeated 19-0. Back in 2009 hewon a 10 rounder against Crolla as well, the first ten rounder of his career. For Campbell, his amateur background and Olympic pedigree have had him facing high expectations as a pro, and his December loss to France’s Yvan Mendy for the WBC’s International title was a big setback. He has faced no where near the level of competition that Sykes has throughout his career. Campbell is set as a big favorite, paying -3200 with Sykes returning at +1600. There is no over/under set for the bout as of yet.
