91Èȱ¬

"There was 'Naz', (former cruiserweight world champion) , (former light-middleweight world title challenger) , all these great fighters, all my heroes," adds Brook, the 2009 boxing writers' young boxer of the year.

"There were television crews in, with cameras on rails for Naz. The gym was packed, the atmosphere was buzzing, there was music blaring out, it was unbelievable.

"And me being a kid, watching Naz training, and Johnny and 'Spice Boy' Ryan, I thought 'that's what I want to be and that's what I want to do'. That was the tingle that drove me to the point I am today."

Under Ingle's tutelage Brook developed into a fine amateur with all the Wincobank hallmarks - the low-slung hands, the snaky defence, the spitting counter-punching. And when he decided to fly the nest after seven pro fights, he was eventually tempted back, like a lost dog following that unique Wincobank scent.

Under the watchful eye of Brendan's son Dominic, who guided another stable-mate to world glory in 2006, Brook, who won the British title with a seventh-round stoppage of Barrie Jones in 2008, made three blink-and-you'll-miss-it defences before his progress was halted by injuries and a spot of extra-curricular nonsense.

after a nightclub brawl in Barnsley, fitted with an electronic tag and placed under curfew. Cue a cameo appearance from the former undisputed star of the Wincobank gym, an older, wiser Naseem Hamed.

Brook, 24, explains: "I was out with him a couple of months ago and he said 'don't cut corners or else you'll get cut short'. He also spoke about his fights, the different opponents and about his life - he's the man.

"The last few months I've had a big wake-up call - again - but I now know what I want to do and what it takes to get there. There have been no cutting corners, I've just been getting my head down and thinking about what I'll do with my big pot of money."

Brook's promoter Frank Warren might be surprised to hear that his former charge Hamed, with whom he had his run-ins, has been doling out sage advice, but pleasantly so.

Young prodigies gone wrong have been falling through Warren's fingers since he came into the game, , who admitted after his chastening defeat by Australian Michael Katsidis in May that he had been disobeying Hamed's new cardinal rule.

"There are no shortcuts in this business, your talent can take you to a certain point and then it's all about hard work and dedication," Warren told 91Èȱ¬ Sport. "Kevin was on a roll and he took his foot off the gas - and if you don't put it in you won't get it out.

"Kell is on the cusp of doing something really big - he's only 24 but I don't think he's too far off a world title shot. He's got a good style, he's loose, he's confident, he can punch, he can box.

"But he's got a big fight on his hands. Jennings is a tough cookie, he knows the game and I think he'll give Kell a lot to think about. He went in with Miguel Cotto [Jennings lost a fight for the WBO crown last February] so this is a big step up for Kell, a real big test, and will determine if he's as good as we all think he is."

Brook's fight with the 33-year-old Jennings, himself a former British champion, will double-up as an eliminator for Manny Pacquiao's WBO welterweight crown. And while a match with the Philippine superstar will never happen, an impressive victory over Jennings would catapult Brook into the world-title mix.

Warren will be aware is currently among the strongest and, with Mitchell's humbling defeat still raw, he may decide a match-up with would make more short-term sense.

For his part Brook isn't making any rash predictions about the long-term future or indeed about Saturday night - more advice from the wise old Prince, perhaps? - although he isn't too shy to cite one of the modern greats as his immediate inspiration.

"I remember watching Floyd Mayweather against when he won his first world title and Hernandez had lots more experience," says Brook.

"But Mayweather played with him, and it will be same against Jennings - whatever he does, I've got every angle covered - I'm ready for him."

The suspicion is Brook has landed Jennings at just the right time - only a year ago and things might have been different - and never mind the Wincobank tingle, things might start turning Hollywood all over again.