Kell Brook feared he would go blind after suffering fractured eye socket again in battle with Errol Spence Jr
Sheffield boxer was stopped in the 11th round and lost his IBF welterweight title
KELL BROOK feared going blind when his left eye socket was shattered by Errol Spence Jr at Bramall Lane.
And the Sheffield fighter, 31, is expected to undergo a SECOND surgery within the space of nine months — with his career now hanging in the balance.
Brook fought on for four rounds against the undefeated American before losing his IBF world welterweight title, even though he knew his eye socket was busted.
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Referee Howard Foster stopped the contest in the 11th after Brook had been put down twice by Spence, 27, who lived up to the hype surrounding his career.
Brook will now need another titanium plate inserted into his cheek to hold bones together after one was used to repair his right eye socket following a battering from Gennady Golovkin.
He admitted: “I’m devastated. I knew from round seven the eye had gone and it got progressively worse as the rounds went on.
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“I tried to get through the fight but it kept going double-vision and then coming back into line. I remember the surgeon saying to me after the Golovkin fight that if I’d gone another round I could have ended up blind so I had that going through my mind as well.
“When I got caught in the 11th, my vision wouldn’t come back into line. That’s why I went down on one knee, I couldn’t see his punches.
“I knew he is a sharp shooter and it could be fatal with some of the shots he was chucking at me.
“I’m devastated but also happy because the fans had a great night. Seeing everybody at the Lane and the energy was fantastic.”
Brook also admitted his days as a welterweight are over and he will move up a division if the injury heals sufficiently. He added: “I put a lot of muscle on and it was hard to get to welterweight.”
Amir Khan, 30, is one fighter who hopes Brook can return.
But the former world champion said: “I’d like to fight him at 147 but it depends on Kell’s eye, and also the dates — there are a lot of pay-per-view fights on.
“I really believe that a fight next summer would make sense.”