• Welterweight

Brook feared he'd never walk again after machete attack

Kell Brook was slashed with a machete in September 2014, days after winning the IBF welterweight world title © Getty Images

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IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook "saw death" and feared he may never walk again after being stabbed in the thigh with a machete just two weeks after winning the world title in 2014.

Brook will take on Canadian-based Romanian southpaw Jo Jo Dan in his first defence of his title at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield, six months after the life-threatening attack.

The unbeaten 28-year-old has made a rapid recovery from the incident, a fortnight after taking the IBF title from Shawn Porter in California.

Brook says the unprovoked attack - perpetrated by a supposed fan after a late night drinking session - involved a foot-long blade that was slashed across his left thigh, leaving a six-inch scar just above the knee.

"One minute we were chatting, the next I was being macheted up," Brook told the Independent on Sunday. "There was blood squirting out of my leg. I could see death, my life flashing in front of me. He stood over me shouting and swearing and I scrambled away.

"Had I not been found by paramedics, I would have bled to death.

"I remember waking up in hospital and there were drips in my arms. It was horrific. I was trying to find my feet but the legs weren't working.

Brook was bed-ridden for another four days and was told it would be weeks before he would recover the use of his leg: "Nobody could speak English; no-one was telling us what was going on, I didn't know if I'd ever walk again."

Brook defied the medics and was back on his feet within days, working hard with the physios to return to full fitness to book his first title defence, which he hopes will lead to a potential showdown with Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao after fighting the elusive Amir Khan.

"Amir is avoiding me like the plague," added Brook, who has a new lease on life following the events of the past six months. "I know how fortunate I am and I treasure it now. It has changed me. I'm a lucky kid."

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