By Scott Gilfoid: Bob Arum, the promoter for WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas, was totally shocked at hearing the news of IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin signing for a fight against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook on September 10.
Arum thinks the Golovkin-Brook fight is a joke, because it makes no sense at all to him due to the size difference between the two of them. Arum felt the Golovkin vs. Chris Eubank Jr. fight would have made a lot more sense than Golovkin facing a welterweight like Brook.
The basic problem that Brook has is he’s facing a guy that is destroying all the fighters his own size at middleweight. Golovkin is obliterating everyone he faces nowadays. Brook is a good welterweight, but he’s not a middleweight, and his fighting style is made to order for Golovkin because he likes to engage with his opponents.
“I don’t believe that. That’s crazy. I mean, Golovkin is fighting a welterweight?” said Arum to RingTV.com. “I’m a little shocked. Is that even a fight? (GGG vs. Chris Eubank Jr.) makes sense. At least Eubank is a middleweight. It’s not a bad fight. But Gennady Golovkin against a welterweight? Give me a break,” said Arum.
Arum’s fighter Jessie Vargas was supposed to be the one facing Brook next, but Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn abandoned the negotiations with him when the Golovkin fight opportunity came up. Hearn instead matched Brook against Golovkin. I see that as a move that Hearn will eventually regret after Golovkin turns into the incredible hulk against Brook and smashes him to bits on September 10 in their fight at the O2 Arena in London, England. It doesn’t matter that Brook will be fighting in front of his own fans in the UK. Golovkin is going to dissemble Brook in lightning fashion for all to see, and there’s nothing his fans can do about it. That’s my prediction. Brook is a decent welterweight, but he sure as heck isn’t a middleweight.
Yeah, it’s starting to become the norm now for smaller, desperate fighters to take risks. First it was welterweight Amir Khan against the hulking middleweight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. No it’s Brook’s turn. It went bad for Khan, and I think it’s going to be even worse for Brook because Golovkin is going to struggle against him. Canelo had problems against Khan for four rounds. That’s not because Khan is good. It’s because Canelo is a flawed fighter who struggles when he faces fast guys with boxing skills.
Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn seems to think it’s a great idea to have him fight Golovkin. Eddie is bragging about Brook being the best welterweight in the division despite the fact that he hasn’t even fought one-fourth of the top welterweights in the division. I mean, Brook only has a win over Shawn Porter, and that wasn’t even really a win. It was just Brook holding Porter all night long to keep him from punching his lights out. The referee didn’t take points off from Brook for turning the fight into a stall. Hearn’s reasoning for calling Brook the best welterweight is his No.1 ranking with Ring Magazine. Brook hasn’t fought Errol Spence, Keith Thurman, Tim Bradley or Danny Garcia.