By Scott Gilfoid: Trainer Abel Sanchez likes what he’s hearing about IBF welterweight champion Kell “Special K” Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) being interested in moving up to middleweight to take on unbeaten IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) at a catch-weight of 157 pounds.
Sanchez is open to the fight taking place between Brook and Golovkin if it can be negotiated between Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler and Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport. Right now, Brook is talking about wanting to fight one of the top welterweights in the summer in Sheffield, UK. Brook is hoping Hearn can get him a fight against one the following names: Tim Bradley, Danny Garcia, Jessie Vargas, Manny Pacquiao, Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter.
It definitely helps that Brook has mentioned so many different names as potential opponents for his summer fight in Sheffield.
At least by doing that, he increases his chances of getting at least one of them to agree to take the fight. I still don’t see him getting any of those names, but there’s a chance he could get one.
“I think he’s ballsy,” Sanchez said to Fighthype about Brook being interested in facing Golovkin at a catch-weight of 157lbs. “I believe him. Look, Golovkin right now is the boogey man and no one wants to fight him. You’re talking about a guy that’s 147 pounds that’s willing to move up like [Amir] Khan did with [Saul] Canelo [Alvarez]. I think that’s ballsy. I think that he understands that he has nothing to lose like Khan has nothing to lose with Canelo. If Eddie [Hearn] and Tom [Loeffler] can put it together, it’s an interesting fight. We’re going to find out on the 7th [of May] if Khan fighting Canelo is challenging for Canelo and it’s a fight that goes 12 rounds and it’s not a one-sided fight, then maybe. Kell looked good tonight. It could be,” said Sanchez.
I think Brook wasn’t at all serious about wanting to fight Golovkin. That’s such a risky fight for Brook with only a tiny chance for success. Brook’s fighting style is all wrong for him to have a chance of beating a banger like Golovkin.
Brook didn’t even look good in the 1st round in his mismatch last Saturday night against Kevin Bizier (25-3, 17 KOs) at the Sheffield Arena. Brook was able to catch Bizier with a right hand in the 2nd round that hurt him. Brook then followed up with a series of hard punches to put Bizier down. After he got back up, Brook knocked him down for a second time after hitting him with a couple of decent shots.
Brook would have an impossible task of trying to keep Golovkin off him. Brook would get wiped out in lightning fashion if he chose to trade with Golovkin. That’s why I suspect we’d see Brook using the old punch and grab technique to try to keep Golovkin from getting any shots off at all, period. The problem with that technique, which Brook used in his fight against Shawn Porter, is that Golovkin knows how to avoid being held.
If Brook tried to grab him repeatedly to smother his offense, Golovkin would move backwards a half step and nail Brook with a left or a right hand that make him think twice about trying to hold. We saw Golovkin use this tactic against Martin Murray last year when Murray was clinching nonstop and just stalling the fight out rather than trying to win it.
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