Kell Brook vs Siarhei Rabchanka Preview March 3rd
Former IBF World Welterweight Champion Kell (Ezekiel) Brook returns to the ring this Saturday, March 3rd when he takes on Siarhei Rabchanka of Belarus in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England. The 12-round junior middleweight bout can be seen live in the UK and Ireland on Sky Sports. Brook’s last outing saw him lose his welterweight title to American Errol Spence when he was knocked out in the 11th round. Rabchanka last fought in September when he stopped Siarhei Krapshyla in the second round.
Brook vs Rabchanka Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Siarhei Rabchanka +800
- Kell Brook -1300
My Pick
Brook has now lost two fights in a row to excellent opponents as he he moved up to middleweight to take on WBA, IBF, IBO and WBC Champion Gennady Golovkin in September of 2016 and was stopped in the fifth round. He also suffered facial injuries in the losses to Spence and Golovkin. The 31-year-old Brook will be campaigning as a junior middleweight on Saturday and enters the ring with a record of 36-2 along with with 26 Kos. He put up an entertaining fight against Golovkin even though he moved up two weight divisions, but ultimately ended up with a broken orbital bone for his efforts.
His fight against Spence was also an exciting one and he’s now looking for a win to get his confidence and career back on the right track. Brook won his IBF title in August of 2014 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California with an impressive majority-decision win over former champ Shawn Porter of America. Brook then sat out a few months after he was stabbed with a machete in the leg during an attack while on holiday in Tenerife. He’s certainly not the biggest junior middleweight around as he stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 69-inch reach.
Brook turned pro back in 2004 and has fought 195 rounds since then. Before beating Porter, Brook was a former British Welterweight Champion. His biggest fights up until then were against the likes of Philip Kotey, Lovemore NDou, Matthew Hatton and Carson Jones. As far as power goes, Brook isn’t really known as much of a big hitter, but his current knockout ratio stands at 66 per cent per cent and his power is slightly underrated. He also owns a pretty good chin despite the outcome of the Golovkin and Spence bouts. He can fight on the back foot as well as going forward.
The 31-year-old Rabchanka may be known by some fans as Sergey Rabchenko. He’s 5-feet-10-inches tall with an unlisted reach so is an inch taller than Brook. He’s built up an impressive record of 29-2 with 22 Kos to his name. His losses came against Tony Harrison by ninth-round stoppage in July of 2016 and to Anthony Mundine by 12-round split decision in November of 2014. Rabchanka turned pro back in 2006 and has boxed 142 rounds since then. He’s got pretty good power in his fists and owns a current knockout ratio of 71 per cent.
Rabchanka has faced some decent opponents over the years, but nobody who could be called an elite boxer or slugger up until now. He has wins over Bradley Pryce (twice), Adriano Nicchi, Cedric Vitu, Ryan Rhodes and Martin Concepcion. In addition, 13 of his 31 opponents had losing records when they stepped in the ring. Still, Rabchanka has managed to win some regional titles such as the WBC Silver, European, WBA Intercontinental and Belarus Junior Middleweight Championships. Rabchanka will need to be aggressive and force the fight to be successful and should try to land something significant early on.
Prediction…
This is a big fight for Brook after two straight losses. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s gun shy after suffering facial damage and if his surgeries hold up if he gets nailed with something heavy. Rabchanka has a puncher’s chance that’s for sure, but Brook is the better boxer with decent power of his own. If Brook’s chin and injuries hold up he should be able to outbox or stop Rabchanka.
Look for Brook to rebound after two straight knockout losses.
Play: Brook -1300 @ BetOnline.ag
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Kell Brook betting • Siarhei Rabchanka betting