By Scott Gilfoid: Like a lot of people, Amir Khan thinks Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) is making a BIG mistake for his fight against Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) for their match this Saturday night by being so heavy. Khan thinks Brook should have stayed light so that he could have used his speed against Golovkin to avoid getting hit. Instead, Brook has bulked up to the 170s, and is currently bigger than Triple G.
At the seven-day weigh-in for the fight, Brook was at 167 to Golovkin’s 162lbs. However, Brook is likely to be well over 170 pounds by the time he rehydrates for the fight on September `10. Khan thinks that a heavy Brook will be easy for Golovkin to hit and hurt with his solid shots.
“I think it will be difficult [for Brook], said Khan. “Maybe he’s taking the wrong approach to the fight by being heavy. By being the smaller guy, he could have moved quicker. This way if he stands with a big puncher, I think he’s going to get hurt,” said Khan.
It would be really interesting to know who gave Brook the brilliant idea for him to bulk up to the 170s for the fight with Golovkin. Was this something that Brook thought up himself, or was this an idea from Brook’s trainer Dominic Ingle.
It doesn’t make a great deal of sense for Brook or any fighter to put on the kind of weight that he’s put on, because it’s just too much weight. Without Brook having tested how he’ll be able to fight at this weight by taking a couple of tune-ups, he’s doing this blindly by guessing that he’ll be fine. It’s never good to guess. When you put on the kind of useless muscle weight that Brook has put on, you are literally asking for trouble.
Golovkin thinks it’s amusing that Brook has put on so much weight so quickly for the fight, and he wonders how he’ll be able to do in carrying around all that extra size, Golovkin wondered wither Brook would be faster. His trainer Abel Sanchez has assured him that Brook WON’T be faster with all that weight.
Brook has weighed in twice in the past month in coming in at 176 at the 30-day weigh-in and then 167 for the seven-day weigh-in. Brook’s weight for the fight will likely be around 170-175. He’ll try and compete with Golovkin in the size department.
“He’s huge. He looks good. He looks strong and big. It’s interesting. It’s very serious and it’s a huge fight,” said Golovkin to skysports.com about Brook being so heavy for this fight. “My first question to my coach was about [Brook having] different speed but he said no – just different size, different power and different timing. I thought ‘Wow’. It’s interesting.”
Yeah, I think it’s a stupid move on Brook’s part to put on all that weight for the fight. Unless Brook’s main plan is to use that weight to try and clinch/wrestle GGG all night long, I think it’s going to be a problem for him being that heavy. Now if Brook is going to look to attach himself physically to Golovkin by grabbing him every chance he can get in the fight to shut down his of punch output to just a trickle of punches, then I can well understand why Brook would want to come into the fight so heavy. That’s what I would do if I planned to turn the fight into a stand up wrestling match rather than a boxing fight.
All that muscle might help Brook if he can tie Golovkin up somehow to limit the amount of shots he throws in the fight. I don’t think it’s going to work for Brook, but that’s the only real area where I think his size might help him. In boxing, it’s best to focus on speed and not make too many changes with your physique for any one particular fight. In other words, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Brook has had all his success in coming into his fights at 147 and then rehydrating to the low 160s. Why would he want to mess things up by adding more weight against the best middleweight in the division in GGG? I think it’s dumb.
“I have a different plan and a more serious plan. Kell is a great fighter and I respect him,” said Golovkin. “I understand it’s not an easy fight for us so I’m more serious and more focused.”
Golovkin shouldn’t assume this is going to be a tough fight against Brook. That’s wrong. I see this fight as being no different than Golovkin’s match against Dominic Wade. It might even be easier for Golovkin, because of all the weight that Brook is putting on. At least with Wade, Golovkin was fighting a real middleweight who came into the fight at his normal weight and wasn’t slowed down by it. With Brook, he’s going to be lugging around all that weight from having bulked up and I can’t see that helping him at all.
It’s nice that Golovkin is being kind by giving Brook the benefit of the doubt about him being better at the new weight, but I think Brook won’t be better. I think he’ll be worse. He’s a newbie at middleweight, and it’s too much weight for him to have put on. If Brook did something sensible like moving up to junior middleweight and challenged one of the champions in that weight class, then I could maybe give him a chance.
If Brook were to fight the likes of Liam Smith, Erislandy Lara, Jermall Charlo or Jermell Charlo, he would at least have a fighting chance to win. He’s not doing that. He’s moving up two entire weight divisions to take on the most talented fighter in the middleweight division in Triple G, and I think it’s going to be a real car wreck for Brook. He’s going to look like someone who wondered out into the wrong ring by mistake on Saturday night, and I think it’s going to wind up being a real massacre.