Kell Brook preparing hard for GGG

By Boxing News - 08/25/2016 - Comments

Image: Kell Brook preparing hard for GGG

By Scott Gilfoid: In an attempt to leave no stones left unturned, Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) is resorting to getting help from Boxing science at the Sheffield Hallam University to get ready for his September 10 fight against Gennady Golovkin. Brook is doing a lot of different exercises at the Hallam University in hopes of improving his strength, speed and conditioning enough to somehow beat Triple G in their fight at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Brook, 30, is lifting weights, working on treadmills, and other different exercises. All of it is being monitored and graphed to check for constant improvement.

It sounds like a neat thing for Brook to be turning to boxing science to improve his game. We saw that kind of stuff in the Sylvester Stallone movie Rocky 4, didn’t we? Unfortunately, this is real life and lifting weights and having all these exercises measured and graphed isn’t going to do much in my opinion. I mean, I think Brook is going to be up against it on September 10 no matter what exercises he’s done in hopes of improving his game.

Boxing is a sport and you either have the talent or you don’t. Putting you on different exercise machines isn’t going to bestow upon you talent or punching power. It’s just going to use up a lot of time that could and should be better spent on working on cardio, which is what I think Brook BADLY needs for this particular fight against GGG.

Brook really needs to focus on running rather than putting on useless muscles that are only going to tire him out when he gets inside the ring on the night with Golovkin. Brook’s best chance of beating Golovkin is to run from him for 12 rounds on September 10, and then hope the three judges give him the victory anyway.

The fight is taking place in London, England, which means the crowd is going to be barking at anything Brook does inside the ring. If Brook lands anything at all, you can bet the pro-Brook crowd will be shouting their heads off.

The judges are only human. If they hear total silence while Golovkin is braining Brook with punches and then a total uproar each time Brook lands a jab, they’re going to be giving him rounds. That’s just human nature. That’s why it’s in Brook’s best interest to work on his cardio for this fight, because if he can run for 12 rounds to keep from getting blasted out by Golovkin, then he can win the fight.

I think Brook has got his mind made up that his best chance of beating Triple G is if he packs on a ton of muscle in a misguided belief that it will help him take his power shots and beat him at his own game. It’s not going to work I’m afraid. Putting more muscle on only slows down a fighter. It doesn’t make them a significantly more powerful puncher. Power doesn’t come from having a ton of muscles. It comes from your frame, tendons, ligaments and fast twitch muscle fiber. You can put a ton of muscles on a fighter that doesn’t have the frame for it, and it’s like putting a rocket on a skateboard. You’re not going to do improve the natural limitations built into your frame. That’s why it’s always better to focus on things like speed and cardio when you’re facing a bigger fighter with more punching power rather than putting on a lot of muscle by using resistance training.

The only thing thatt weight resistance exercises are going to do for Brook is make him tired, slow and more hittable than he was before. Brook is not going to be able to out-wrestle Golovkin in this fight like he did against Shawn Porter in 2014. If Brook can’t stand in the pocket and fight Golovkin, then he’s out of luck and he wasn’t meant to win the fight. With all that useless muscle weight that Brook has out on his frame since he started training camp, he has no chance of running to make it to the final bell in the 12th round. That’s too bad because that was his only chance of winning. The whole setup is there for Brook to win with the fight taking place in the UK, but like I said, the only way he can win is if he makes it through 12 rounds. He’s got to run. He can’t do that with all that muscle weight he’s put on.

If I was the guy in charge at the Sheffield Hallam University, I would have trotted Brook right past all the weight machines and went straight to the treadmill and told him to start running until I tell him to stop. I’d have Brook running fast, because he’s going to need to be able to run against Golovkin. I would then work on Brook’s lateral movement by putting him in a ring and having him move quickly for three minute intervals for 12 rounds just a one minute break in between the intervals. Brook would obviously lose a lot of useless muscle from his constant movement, but he would be totally ready for the Golovkin fight on September 10. That would be the smart way for Brook to get prepared for Golovkin. The dumb way is the way that Brook is doing it now with him lifting weights and doing all kinds of resistance exercises. Brook is not going to beat Golovkin at his own game by slugging, so he shouldn’t even be bothering with all this weight lifting garbage.