Spence: Golovkin will KO Kell Brook

By Boxing News - 08/14/2016 - Comments

Image: Spence: Golovkin will KO Kell Brook

By Allan Fox: Undefeated welterweight contender Errol Spence Jr. (20-0, 17 KOs) is picking IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) to knockout challenger Kell “Special K” Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) in their fight on September 10. Spence thinks Golovkin’s punching power is ultimately going to be too much for Brook to deal with in this fight. However, Spence does give Brook a chance of pulling off the upset if he can make it close by boxing GGG and going the full 12 rounds.

Spence thinks that Brook might get the nod by the judges due to the fight taking place in his home country of the UK at the O2 Arena in London. Spence gives Brook a lot of credit for taking the fight, but he would pick Golovkin by knockout victory if he were a betting man.

Spence will likely be the one that is waiting for Brook when/if he comes back down to the welterweight division to resume defending his International Boxing Federation 147l title. Spence has an IBF title eliminator bout next Sunday against #6 IBF Leonard Bundu (33-1-1, 12 KOs) at Coney Island, New York. the winner of the Spence-Bundu fight will be the IBF mandatory challenger.

If Brook decides he never wants to defend his IBF title again, then the winner of the Spence vs. Bundu fight might be installed as the new IBF champion unless the IBF has them fight someone for it. Spence would be favored against any of the top welterweights in the IBF’s rankings. If Brook decides to defend his IBF title, then he could have to face Spence and that would be a tough fight to take after the Golovkin match, even if he has a huge weight advantage over Spence. It’s just a very tough fight to take at any weight.

“I think everyone’s surprised Kell Brook took that fight,” said Spence. “He’s moving up to 160 to fight Triple G, a very hard puncher and a knockout artist. Triple G has been heard to knockout heavyweights in the gym. They’re having him [Brook] move up to take that fight. It takes a lot of guts. I applaud him for it, but I haven’t really given him much thought. He was on my mind because he has the IBF belt and he fights at 147. So right now he’s not really on my mind at all. I think Triple G will knock him out. I give Kell Brook a chance. He’s fighting in the UK. Who knows if it’s a close fight and it goes the distance. He could get the nod, but if I were to bet on it, I’d have Triple G by a knockout,” said Spence.

Golovkin’s punching power changes everything. Brook may be a good puncher in his own right, but he’s never shown himself to be the kind of puncher that Golovkin is, and he doesn’t fight well on the inside. Brook mainly holds on the inside. He won’t be able to get away with that against Golovkin because he’s too big and strong to be held, and he’s very smart.

Brook will very likely look to move around the ring for 12 rounds to box Golovkin. That would give him his best chance of winning. Brook probably won’t last long if he decides to go to war with Golovkin, and he might shorten his career if he takes too much punishment. Brook doesn’t need to be used up by a fighter with the kind of power that Golovkin has going for him. If it becomes obvious that Brook doesn’t have any chance of winning the fight, then his trainer Dominic Ingle needs to do the right thing and halt the fight. It’s better that Ingle stop the contest at some point than letting Brook absorb huge shots that he doesn’t need to take.

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There’s a slight possibility that Brook will be able to go the distance if he uses movement, jabbing and holding for 12 rounds. If Brook fights in a survival mode by using those tactics and tying Golovkin up to keep him from throwing punches, then there’s a chance he could make it the full 12 rounds. With the fight taking place in England, there would be a chance that Brook could wind a controversial decision due to the judges being influenced by the cheering support that Brook will be receiving from the boxing fans at the O2 Arena.

A large crowd of 20,000 will be attending the fight and almost every one of them is expected to be supporting the home fighter Brook. Golovkin is very good at cutting off the ring and landing his big power shots to the body to prevent his opponents from running. It’s quite likely then that Brook won’t be able to go the full 12 rounds even if he spoils the whole time. Brook has never been pressured before like he’ll be getting on September 10 by Golovkin.

There is going to be constant pressure from the very start of the fight by GGG, as Golovkin doesn’t believe in taking it easy. It’s hard to predict whether Golovkin will let Brook stay around or not. If he doesn’t see him as a threat, then we could see Brook being kept around for six or seven rounds by Triple G. However, if Golovkin is taking heavy shots from Brook, then the Kazakhstan fighter will be looking to take him out immediately in order to get it over with. Golovkin isn’t going to take it easy on Brook if he’s getting hit with big shots in return. He’ll want to KO him as fast as possible.

“I’ve got the Bundu fight,” said Spence. “I can’t look over Bundu because he’s an experienced fighter and he’s had a lot of fights, and he has a lot of good tools. I can’t disrespect Bundu and overlook him and end up not looking good and losing, and then I’m not fighting for the IBF title. I take one fight at a time. I’ll fight Bundu and then I’ll worry about the title. The IBF is really good at enforcing the rules, so I’m not worried about that at all,” said Spence.