British welterweight contender Kell Brook has suffered an apparent foot injury that could postpone his bout with IBF titleholder Devon Alexander, currently scheduled for May 18, for the third time, according to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer.

Schaefer said that he was notified by Golden Boy COO Dave Itskowitch on Friday that Brook (29-0, 19 knockouts), who is 26, had injured a foot during training for the clash with Alexander (24-1, 13 KOs), who is also 26.

“Dave Itskowitch got an e-mail this morning from Eddie Hearn that supposedly he injured his foot,” said Schaefer, referring to Brook’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, of Matchroom Sport.

“But it is not clear whether he is going to be able to fight or not. He is going to go and see a specialist on Monday. So we just have to see.”

In early February, Alexander suffered a “freak” bicep injury that forced the bout with Brook to be postponed from Feb. 23. Prior to that, Alexander-Brook was originally scheduled for Jan. 19 before Brook’s apparent ankle injury forced its postponement from that date.

“MRI and CT scans have shown a double stress fracture in his foot. The first is in his fourth metatarsal, and the other is in his navicular,” stated Itskowitch in an e-mail to RingTV.com. “Not sure which foot. He’ll have it checked out on Monday and we should have a decision then.”

Hearn also addressed the situation on his Twitter account.

“Regarding Kell Brook,” wrote Hearn on his Twitter account. “He has been receiving some treatment for a foot injury. Will update if any further news.”

Alexander is coming off October’s unanimous decision over hard-punching Randall Bailey, and Brook, (29-0, 19 KOs), October’s third-round stoppage of Hector Saldivia.

Brook-Alexander is slated to take placed on Showtime at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. It’s the co-featured bout to the Lamont Peterson–Lucas Matthysse showdown.

JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR., MIKEY GARCIA LIKELY RETURN ON JUNE 22

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said he expects RING and WBO featherweight champion Miguel Angel “Mikey” Garcia and former WBC middleweight titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to return to the ring on June 22 in Texas on HBO.

Arum said the leading candidate for Garcia (31-0, 26 KOs) could be Orlando Cruz (19-2-1, 9 KOs), who has scored four straight victories, including three knockout wins since being stopped himself in consecutive losses to Cornelius Lock and Daniel Ponce de Leon in September of 2009 and February of 2010.

Garcia is coming off January’s eighth-round, technical-decision victory over Orlando Salido at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Chavez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) is trying to rebound from September’s unanimous decision loss to RING and WBC champion Sergio Martinez, whom he dropped in the 12th round.

Top candidates to face Chavez are England’s Darren Barker.(25-1, 16 KOs) and Bryan Vera (23-6, 14 KOs). Barker has scored two straight knockouts since being stopped by Martinez in the 11th round in October of 2011.

Vera has won four consecutive fights, including the past two by stoppage, since being decisioned by Andy Lee in October of 2011.

Photo by Scott Heavey, Gettyimages

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]