Kell Brook Struggling to Settle into Retirement
For many professional athletes, it is often the case that their biggest battle comes after they decide to retire. That has become the case for ex-IBF welterweight champion Kell “Special K” Brook (40-3, 28 KOs).
The last time fans saw him in the ring, the pride of Sheffield, England scored a sixth-round stoppage over British rival Amir Khan. It was the most satisfying win of Brook’s career. Feeling that he had nothing else to prove, Brook decided it was time to call it a career.
FINDING IT DIFFICULT TO COPE
But during an interview with the UK media source Boxing King Media, the 36-year-old admits life hasn’t been easy during his post-boxing life. Special K was brutally honest about his current issues.
“It’s a little bit like I’ve died because boxing has been my life. It has been my life. It’s all that I really know, to a certain degree. It is hard when you do hang them up. When you hang them up, It’s hard to transfer into something different.”
Here is the issue for Brook and many boxers. The sport encapsulates your body, mind, and spirit. You eat, sleep, train, and put everything else on the back burner to pursue your goals.
Once a boxer decides to end that pursuit, it’s tough finding something that satisfies you fully. You miss that thrill and competitive high. If nothing scratches that itch, your life can become empty. As a result, fighters will often contemplate returning to the ring.
As of this writing, there has been no word of a Brook comeback. But he’s at a bit of a crossroads in his life. Will the ex-welterweight champ find contentment post-retirement? The hope is that Brook can work through this current crisis to find true happiness and peace.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
