Of course, the big welterweight title fight on the schedule is the long-awaited unification match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao on May 2, a lock to break all pay-per-view records.
But there’s another welterweight title bout on the schedule. It's obviously not even close to being as big, but it’s an interesting fight: England’s Kell Brook is set to make a mandatory defense against Montreal-based Romanian Jo Jo Dan on March 28 at the Motorpoint Arena in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England.
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Showtime has announced that it will televise the bout live in the United States beginning at 6:15 p.m. ET on “Showtime Boxing International,” the name of a series that may be used if and when the network buys rights to other fights from Europe.
Adding Brook-Dan to the schedule gives Showtime a big day on March 28. It will kick off with the fight from England, then at 10 p.m. ET it will have a doubleheader edition of “Showtime Championship Boxing” from the Palms Resort Casino in Las Vegas that will feature featherweight titlist Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48 KOs) of Mexico City defending against Gary Russell Jr. (25-1, 14 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Maryland, in the main event with a 10-round junior bout between contenders Jermell Charlo (25-0, 11 KOs) of Houston against Vanes Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21 KOs) of Glendale, California.
Showtime will have a replay of Brook-Dan immediately following the Gonzalez-Russell telecast.
Brook (33-0, 22 KOs) won his belt in August via majority decision against Shawn Porter and will be making his first defense -- after having to cancel a December defense because he suffered a stab wound in his leg in September during an incident while he was on vacation in Spain.
“March 28 will be an emotional night for Kell and the team; I remember being by his bedside in September in a Spanish hospital after that horrific knife attack,” said Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn. “It looked like his career was over. He has shown incredible physical and mental strength and looks better than ever in camp. Fans on Showtime will get to see, in my opinion, the best 147-pounder in the world light up a 10,000 sell-out arena on March 28.”
Said Brook: “After everything that’s happened over the last six months, it feels incredible knowing I will be defending my world title in Sheffield. I’m not looking past Jo Jo. I know he will bring the heat, but I want to get this mandatory defense done and then target those megafights that are out there in the division.
“I know he feels he worked so hard to get into the mandatory position just like I did, but I will be working twice as hard to keep the belt that I earned. After May 2, there will only be two champions in the division -- myself and Floyd or Manny. I want to unify this division in style. I'm coming for them all.”
Dan (34-2, 18 KOs) has won five in a row and eight of his last nine. He earned the shot at Brook with a split-decision win against Kevin Bizier in their rematch, which was a title eliminator that Showtime televised on Dec. 19.
“Kell has not fought anyone like me,” Dan said. “I believe in myself and I don't think he can bring anything I can't deal with on fight night. I saw his last fight where he won the world title and it was a great performance, but I just let my team study him in depth and come up with a winning strategy.
“I have waited a long time to get a world title shot, so I am determined to take advantage of this opportunity. My prediction for the fight is simple -- Jo Jo Dan becomes the new IBF welterweight world champion.”
...you're a fool for that 
