By Allan Fox: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) says he got too anxious tonight in his fight against challenger Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) and that’s why it took him loner to eventually get to him for a 5th round stoppage. Brook’s long-time trainer Dominic Ingle threw in the towel in the 5th to save him from taking needless punishment once he saw that the fight had spun out of control for his fighter.
Golovkin said he broke Kell Brook, and in truth, he did break him down with his shots. Golovkin’s heavy hands caused Brook to suffer an eye injury that he says had him unable to see clearly out of his right eye.
Photos/Matchroom Boxing
Golovkin’s huge shots were rearranging Brooks’ features slowly. The fight only lasted five rounds. If it had gone the full 12 rounds, Brook would have likely looked a mess. It wouldn’t have been a good idea for Brook’s career for him to take punishment from Golovkin for 12 rounds. It was a good thing that Ingle stopped it when he did, because Brook’s power shots weren’t doing anything to slow Golovkin down.
In the final sequence in the 5th round, Golovkin landed a hard right to the body that seemed to bother Brook, because he was unable to block the next four punches that came to the head. Golovkin landed four big shots, and Brook tried to escape by moving along the ropes, but Golovkin followed him and continued to pelt him with tremendous shots until his trainer Ingle threw in the towel to have the fight stopped. Brook was making Golovkin miss with some of his shots, but enough of them were getting through to have him in serious trouble.
Golovkin says he knew that he had broken Brook by the 5th round, and he knew it was going to be stopped. Brook wasn’t punching back and was just trying not get hit and taunt Golovkin each time he would miss with a punch. It looked like Brook was just trying to save face by acting like he was in control of the situation when in fact he was badly hurt from an eye injury that he sustained in the 1at round to his right eye.
“I was not surprised. Kell Brook, he’s not a middleweight,” said Golovkin after the fight. “It’s not his division. “I promised to bring big drama show. It’s not boxing. It’s like street fight. I feel he’s finished, game over,” said Golovkin in describing the last moments of the 5th round. “I feel like a couple rounds more and that’s it. I don’t feel power. Yes, he touched me, but I don’t feel it. Abel said, ‘take your time and pressure him, because he’s broken.’ I didn’t feel his power. I felt his distance. He had great distance. After the 2nd round, I understood this is not boxing. I need street fight. I just broke him. That’s it.”
Brook was able to land his best shots from the distance. He showed great reach in being able to land long rights. Brook connected with a perfect left uppercut to the head of Golovkin in round two that snapped his head back from the force of it.
That shot would have probably knocked out most welterweights, but Golovkin walked through it and kept attacking. Golovkin was a different animal after the 2nd round, however. He came out at a faster pace in the 3rd and was landing some big shots. He was also missing a lot as well, but he never stopped throwing, so it didn’t really matter.
Golovkin fought at a faster pace in each round from the third. Golovkin seemed to shift a gear in his game in the 4th, as he attacked at a frenetic pace and had Brook literally running to keep out of the way of his shots. In the 5th, Golovkin increased the pace even more, as he no longer had any respect for Brook’s shots. He just stalked him continuously and threw punches to the body and the head that clearly bothered Brook.
When asked if he was sick this week, Golovkin said, “It’s not true. I feel great. It’s because I not smile.”
“I feel after the 1st round, he’s not middleweight and I’m not scared,” said Golovkin.
Golovkin wasn’t impressed with his performance in rating it low. When asked how would he rate his performance on a one to ten scale, Golovkin said, “Three or four, not good. I promise to bring drama show. I was not boxing world class. It’s like street fight. It’s like sparring.”