By Sean Crose

Kell Brook appears to be one of those guys who simply doesn’t have it easy. Sure, he’s the IBF welterweight champion of the world. Sure, he’s popular back home in England. Sure, he’s one of the more formidable players in the post-Mayweather era. But still, things just aren’t easy for the guy.

In a surprising bit of news, Brook’s October 23d fight with the solid (and dirty) Diego Chavez has been called off (at least temporarily). Why? Because Brook has suffered a rib injury. These things happen in boxing, of course, but Brook seems to suffer more than his share of tough breaks in general.

Aside from this most recent incident, the man has also been stabbed in the leg while on vacation. Apparently, the wound he received on that occasion was quite serious. This after waiting in the wings to get a crack at glory against the dangerous Shawn Porter back in 2014.

To add insult to injury, Brook has also not been able to land a dream match against fellow Brit Amir Khan, most likely because Khan has been perpetually in line for superfights with the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Add that to the fact that major bouts with Brandon Rios and superstar Tim Bradley have fallen through – for whatever reasons – and it’s easy to see why this hasn’t been a perfect year for the guy known as Special K.

“Disappointed to announce that,” promoter Eddie Hearn tweeted, “@SpecialKBrook has been ruled out of Oct 24th clash after sustaining a rib injury in training yesterday.” Disappointed may be an understatement here, but no matter.

“A re-scheduled date will be issued shortly,” Hearn continued. Needless to say, boxing fans and writers, always – and perhaps rightly – a suspicious bunch, are already sensing that something is rotten in Denmark (or, in this case, England).

Indeed, there are sarcastic claims that the Brook-Chavez bout will be rescheduled for December 12, the same day rising British heavyweight (and Hearn fighter) Anthony Joshua, will be facing major opposition in a British based fight against the talented Dillian White.

None of this is good news for Brook, who, fairly or not, is now on the receiving end of criticism. Aside from promotional-based criticism, there are recent rumbles that Brook needs to start fighting serious competition. True enough, the man hasn’t faced a big name since soundly winning his title off of Porter, though the dismissal of the dangerous Chavez as a worthy opponent is – in the view of this writer – somewhat unfair.

At the very least, Brook can take comfort in the fact that his injury doesn’t seem to be too serious and that he’ll be back in the ring soon enough – though clearly not soon enough for some observers.

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