IT is a bold move, to say the least, for Kell Brook to abandon his welterweight world title, leap up two whole divisions to take on middleweight’s heaviest hitter Gennady Golovkin. ‘GGG’ has unified the WBC, IBF and WBA 160lbs world titles, although the WBA declined to sanction this contest for their title citing concerns about Brook’s health with him never having fought at the weight before.
Eddie Hearn, the promoter of the event, countered, “The WBA haven’t sanctioned it because they had the hump because we announced the fight and they feel we didn’t formally ask them to sanction the fight. That’s why they didn’t sanction the fight. Listen Adrien Broner went up two weights to fight Paulie Malignaggi at welterweight for the world title, it’s exactly the same. They weigh the same, there’s no weight concerns, look at the size of him [Kell Brook]. If he doesn’t beat Golovkin, it’s because he’s not good enough, nothing to do with the weight or the size. It’s hard to explain because people don’t know Kell, people haven’t been around him. Everything’s the same, what he weighs in the ring on Saturday will be exactly the same as what he weighs in the ring as a welterweight, 12st, 12st 1lbs, 12st 2lbs… All that’s missing is the horrible part on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday when he has to make the weight and he’ll still have to make the weight on Friday but it’s going to be nice, it’s not going to be torture.”
The promoter is also confident that defeat wouldn’t derail Brook. “His profile’s through the roof, he’s taken a fight that no one else wants to take in world boxing. Can he make 147 again? I don’t think so, but we’ll have to see. But win this fight and he’ll become the biggest fighter in world boxing. That’s what we’re playing for. We’re not playing to win a world title, you’re playing to become the number one fighter in the world. So that’s the carrot here for this fight.”
“We’re not taking the fight to lose, we’re taking the fight to win,” Hearn continued. “He’s a winner. The only reason he’s in this fight is to win it. That’s all and that’s what you’ll get from him on Saturday night. You’ll get a kid trying 110 percent to beat Golovkin. There is not one ounce of doubt in his mind that he’s not going to beat Gennady Golovkin. Not an ounce.
“And how many fighters could say the same thing that fought him in the past?”
