HOW do you beat someone like Gennady Golovkin? He applies terrible pressure, hits with genuine force and has the footwork to always impose himself on his opponents. Perhaps Kell Brook will back off, manoeuvre round the ring and expect that because heโs lighter he can move faster. So far though Golovkin has shown an uncanny ability to quickly cut down space in the ring. If Kell needs to drive the Kazakh off, force him on to the back foot for once, will he, two divisions up from his normal weight division, have the power to do that?
Itโs a puzzle that Brook, for his part, seems eager to solve. โHe bleeds like me. Heโs human,โ Kell said coldly. โIโm just going to approach it as a champion. Go over the things weโve done in the gym and just execute it. Thatโs what weโre going to do. Thatโs how weโre going to approach this fight. Just go in there with a championโs mentality, getting in there and winning.โ
Brook believes his life has built him for this moment. โMe getting stabbed and worried about if Iโm ever going to walk again, never mind box, I think itโs got me ready for this point now. Iโve stared death in the face and Iโve been put here for a reason,โ he said.
โIโve not come to make the numbers up. Iโm going there to take this massive win, a win thatโll be the biggest weโve ever seen. Thatโs what pressure I give myself. But I always perform. When my backโs against the wall I always come up with the goods.โ
He insists he can handle Golovkinโs power. โIโve been sparring with middleweights, Iโm just more heavy-handed,โ Kell said. โWhen Iโve been getting hit, Iโve had no problem. Iโm feeling different. Iโm healthy at this weight so Iโm able to take them a lot better and Iโm obviously going to need them a lot better.โ
โI just know what I can do,โ he continued. โIโm going to go in there and concentrate on what I do in the gym and get in a rhythm and start doing what I want to do.
“I believe that the skills Iโve got and the mindset and the determination are different to everyone elseโs.”
And he adds, โThis is boxing. Anyone can be beat.โ