Rule Britannia results: Kell Brook stops Frankie Gavin in six

Kell Brook made a second successful defense of the IBF welterweight tile today in London, stopping an overmatched Frankie Gavin late in the sixth round in the main event at the O2 Arena.

Brook (35-0, 24 KO) had a little trouble figuring out the spoiler southpaw style of Gavin (22-2, 13 KO), but once he got into his range, he pretty much cruised in an uneventful fight that Gavin did his best to keep boring, as he was clearly out of his depth against Brook once Kell started landing clean shots.

Brook was able to muscle Gavin, which was to be expected, Gavin landed a shot here and there, but never anything sustained, and never really got out of the blocks offensively. Once Brook hurt Gavin late in round six, he jumped all over the challenger, beating him down against the ropes, where the referee stopped the contest without a count at 2:51.

Brook will obviously be hoping to win the Mayweather sweepstakes for September, but that is probably a longshot, and nothing that happened today likely leapfrogged him over Amir Khan in that race, if indeed Khan is the leading candidate. And even if Khan isn't, Brook was already behind him and likely stays there.

But if he can't get that fight, he'll definitely be looking for something bigger in his next outing. A fight with Brandon Rios has been rumored, and there are plenty of other names at 147, too, who would love to get a shot at a world title. Brook may have to travel, but he proved willing to do that last year to face Shawn Porter. Whether he's willing to do it as the defending champion may be another story, but it's not unthinkable.