Kell Brook was able to silence many critics about his current standing in boxing's unpredictable 154-pound division with a dominant win back home.
In the main event of a Matchroom Boxing card from Sheffield, England, Brook knocked out rising contender Mark DeLuca by dropping him twice en route to a seventh-round victory.
Brook was sharp throughout the night against a tough fighter in DeLuca, but Brook was able to break through early in the bout. Brook not only dropped DeLuca in the third round, but also busted his nose. Despite this setback, DeLuca was able to hand in there against the former world champion, but ultimately came up short when Brook dropped him once again and ultimately ended the bout in the seventh round.
The 33-year-old Sheffield native once held the IBF welterweight world title but after unsuccessfully challenging for Gennadiy Golovkin's unified middleweight titles in 2016, he would go on to drop the belt to Errol Spence Jr. in 2017, breaking an orbital bone in each fight. Since those two straight losses, Brook decided to go up to 154 pounds in his quest to become a two-division world champion. Brook has now won three straight fights and entered the bout against DeLuca ranked No. 10 by the WBC at 154 pounds.
In the co-main event bout of the card, Terri Harper turned in a career-best performance against Eva Wahlstrom, easily winning a 10-round decision to become the new WBC super featherweight champion. Harper took control of the action early and a flash knockdown in the seventh round helped cement the win on the scorecards.
Harper won the world title in just her 10th pro bout, becoming the first woman born in England to hold the WBC's 130-pound belt. Harper also handed Wahlstrom her first loss at 130 pounds, ending her title reign which began all the way back in 2015.
Below are the results of the entire Matchroom Boxing card (2/8) from Sheffield, England:
- Kell Brook defeated Mark DeLuca by KO, round 7 to win the WBO Intercontinental Junior Middleweight title
- Terri Harper defeated Eva Wahlstrom by unanimous decision (98-91, 99-90, 99-90) to win the WBC Female Super Featherweight title
- Kid Galahad defeated Claudio Marrero by RTD, round 8 in an IBF Super Featherweight title eliminator
- Martin Joseph Ward defeated Jesus Amparan by points (100-88)
- Anthony Tomlinson defeated Stewart Burt by TKO, round 9
- David Allen defeated Dorian Darch by KO, round 3
- John Docherty defeated Pablo Mendoza by TKO, round 1
- Donte Dixon defeated Eduardo Valverde by TKO, round 4
- Callum Beardow defeated Pawel Martyniuk by points (40-36)
