By Robbie Bannatyne: The bombshell news that IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook will face unified middleweight king Gennady Golovkin on September 10 at the O2 Arena in London, England, has rocked the boxing equilibrium like a nuclear explosion. In the many competing narratives of the fight, the overwhelming theme is that Kell Brook is daring to be great in the face of such extreme danger.
Through the decibels of applause for Kell Brook’s courageous action you can detect a palpable fear that he could suffer a grave reaction from Golovkin for his valour.
While I am firmly in the camp of people who commend Brook’s intensely competitive streak, I’m also aware of caveat that he is facing a foe in Golovkin who could potentially inflict serious damage upon him. However, desperate times call for desperate measures and it takes bold and decisive action to be the best. For Brook, the imminent physical risk is delicately counter balanced by the immense financial reward of facing such a fearsome fighter as Golovkin. Regardless of the ominous threat of Glolovkin, the chance to become one of the best and most respected fighters on the planet was too good an opportunity for the Special One to turn down.
Of course, Paulie Malignaggi makes a prescient argument that weight classes must be afforded more respect in boxing. But what can Golovkin and Brook do when they are unable to force the best fighters in their respective weight classes to face them?
The other middleweight champions fierce resistance to facing Golovkin has earned him the moniker of ‘the most avoided middleweight in history’. Similarly, no other welterweight champions, with the sole exception of Jessie Vargas, have answered when Kell Brook started banging on their door for a unification contest.
Before we condemn Eddie Hearn for endangering the health of Kell Brook, or castigate camp Golovkin for accepting the challenge of a much smaller man, we should point the finger of blame at others whose actions have indirectly helped make this fantasy fight a reality.
Chris Eubank Snr’s crazy insistence that he has operational control of the event torpedoed his sons chances of challenging Triple G in a P-P-V bout on Sky Sports Box Office. Canelo relinquished his title rather than face the fire of Golovkin, while the other middleweight champions seem content to cower in the shadows instead of stepping up to the plate against Golovkin.
Also, Al Haymon’s stable of elite welterweight fighters deserve more than an accusatory glance for the glaring omission of Kell Brook’s name from their list of potential opponents.
While I appreciate the legitimate concerns of some boxing pundits about the Kell Brook and Golovkin clash, we must stop this ridiculous protection of the prima donna’s and paper champions who have made Golovkin’s and Brook’s pursuit of greatness in their own divisions impossible.
The current boxing zeitgeist which precludes the best from fighting the best will be solely to blame for any potential blowback from Brook vs Golovkin.
Instead of indulging these ignominious modern ‘champions’, let’s salute Kell Brook, a man truly befitting of the title champion, for daring to be great in the face of such extreme danger.
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