A CLOSE shave in his last fight against Carson Jones has prompted Kell Brook to overhaul his lifestyle ahead of this weekend’s IBF welterweight title eliminator with Hector Saldivia in Sheffield.

The 26-year-old self-styled “Special One” was expected to dispose of battle-weary American Jones with some ease when they met in July, but Brook faded badly, broke his nose in the seventh round and hung on for a majority decision.

The aftertaste was a sour one, with his blood-stained shorts, punched-up face and fading energy levels serving him a reminder that to be the best, no corners could be cut.

And now, following a meeting with promoter Eddie Hearn and trainer Dominic Ingle, he claims he is ready to unleash the newlook Brook on his Argentine opponent, with a shot at the world title on the line.

“This fight is an important one for me and my team, I’m one step away from having a crack at being the world champion,’’ Brook said today.

“If Hector has gone off my last performance, well that wasn’t me. Things have been addressed and I’m a different animal. I am in the best shape I have been in, and I have been fighting for 17 years.

‘‘I’m eating well, drinking plenty and I have never been better. I am taking plenty of recovery time and I have had a brilliant 12-week training camp. I am pushing myself more than ever before.

‘‘I want this more than ever and I have got the eye of the tiger. I have left no stone unturned and this Saturday you’re going to see the best of Kell Brook – one that’s good enough to take care of Hector Saldivia.’’ Brook showed his new shape to fans at a public workout in Sheffield last Friday, with the ripped physique apparent as he went through his paces with Ingle.

Unbeaten throughout his 28 fights so far, Brook has not got to where he is by being lazy but, according to his tactician, changes needed to be made and, so confident is Ingle that his man will prevail on Saturday, he has told him he may as well retire should he lose.

“We had two weeks after the Carson Jones fight where we sat down, myself, Kell, Eddie and two guys from Sheffield Hallam University – a nutritionist and a sport science guy – and looked at every aspect of Kell’s performance and what went wrong,’’ he said.

‘‘Everything has been addressed. If Hector Saldivia has based his fight on the last one, he might as well have watched a different fighter. Every time you go into camp you say it’s the best one you’ve had, but this has been.

‘‘If he had have trained like this for Carson Jones, he would have won in four rounds.”