By Jake Donovan





Kell Brook was all smiles at Friday's weigh-in ceremony and for very good reason. The unbeaten welterweight enjoys a triumphant homecoming this weekend, as he faces mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan in their title fight Saturday evening in Sheffield, England.





Both fighters made weight—Brook at a primed-and-ready 145.6 lbs., Dan at a finely tuned 146.25 lbs.—for the 12-round clash, which airs live on Sky Sports in the UK and also in a rare Saturday matinee edition of Showtime Championship Boxing in the United States. The Showtime portion will precede its already scheduled doubleheader airing later in the evening from Las Vegas.





The bout is Brook's first since claiming a welterweight belt from Shawn Porter last August, though far more significant is what he's since overcome to make it to this point. Brook was the vicitim of a macheté attack while vacationing last fall, somehow managing to survive—ever the fighter—but wounded to the point of having to sit out the rest of a 2014 ring campaign that was his best yet.





In bringing the belt home, Brook (33-0, 22KOs) makes his first title defense. While the general thought process these days is that belts don't matter in the wake of a significant fight, Brook is in a very good place these days. Both he and fellow unbeaten welterweight Keith Thurman hold major bargaining chips for those who stand in line for an opportunity that will likely never come—eyeing the winner of the May 2 superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.





Dan (34-2, 18KOs) earned his shot at the alphabet belt thanks to a pair of closely contested split decision wins over Kevin Bizier. The win in their rematch last November came as a final eliminator, with the 33-year old Dan moving into the mandatory contender slot.





Saturday marks the first title bid for the Canada-based Romanian boxer, who has won his last five starts.





WEIGHTS:

Kell Brook 145.6 lbs. vs. Jo Jo Dan 146.25 lbs. - 12 rds, welterweight

Gavin McDonnell, 121 lbs. vs. Oleksandr Yegorov, 121.5 lbs. - 12 rds, junior featherweight

Adam Etches, 159.4 lbs. vs. Sergei Khomitsky, 159 lbs. - 12 rds, middleweight

Frankie Gavin, 149.25 vs. Bogdan Mitic, 147.1 lbs. - 10 rds, welterweight

Kal Yafai, 114 lbs. vs. Cristofer Rosales, 113 lbs. - 10 rds, junior bantamweight



