By Allan Fox: IBF welterweight champion Kell “Special K” Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) says he doesn’t want to go back down to the 147lb division after he’s found out how much better life is now that he can eat and hydrate himself for his upcoming September 10 fight this Saturday night against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs).
It’s good to know that Brook is finally making the decision not to come back down to welterweight, because the boxing world has been wondering if he would try and come back down or not to the weight class. If Brook does come back down to 147, he has unbeaten Errol Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs) waiting for him.
That would be a nightmarish fight for Brook if he has to boil down to the weight class because Spence is seen as the future of the division. To have to fight him at less than 100% would be a really hard fight for Brook, and he might not be able to handle a fighter in that class.
Brook said it’s been so hard for him to drain down to the 147lb weight limit for the welterweight division for so many years, and he’s not relishing the idea of trying to melt down again after he gets down with his fight against Golovkin. It’s unclear whether Brook will stay at middleweight or if he’ll move down to 154. the way Brook looked today during his public workout in London, he appeared to be even drained for that. He looked thin and tired from having to drop weight.
Brook says he feels more natural now that he’s bulked up to middleweight. However, it remains to be seen whether he can compete at a high enough level to handle being in the ring with guys like Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs, Peter Quillin, Billy Joe Saunders, Andy Lee and Chris Eubank Jr. It’s no good if Brook can’t beat any of those guys. He’ll have to at least move down to 154 to try and compete at junior middleweight.
If his recent video of his sparring session with WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith is any indication, Brook might not be able to compete at a high enough level at 154 for him to be a factor against the better fighters like Smith, Jermall Charlo, Jermell Charlo, Erislandy Lara and Demetrius Andrade. These are naturally bigger fighters than Brook, and he might not have the size to compete against those fighters.
“Now I’ve had a taste of these meals and feeling how I feel, I don’t really want to go back to that horrible feeling,” said Brook to theguardian. “I feel strong; I feel like I’ve never felt before. I’ve grown and put muscle on. I’ve been draining myself to make 147 for years. I feel more natural, more comfortable at this weight. I’m going to be a monster and surprise everybody when they see me and Golovkin at the weigh-in.”
Brook says he’s going to be a “monster” and will surprise everybody at the weigh-in. However, it doesn’t matter how good Brook looks at the weigh-in. The actual proving is going to be done inside the ring, not the weigh-in. If this was a body building competition, then the weigh-in would be the serious thing to get excited about. That’s not what this fight is all about. Brook has got to prove it inside the ring that he can handle Golovkin’s punching power to give him the boxing lesson that he’s talked about.
Brook shouldn’t get too comfortable at middleweight in case he doesn’t have the ability to make big things happen in his weight class. The good news for Brook is that he’s now about to get a huge payday against Golovkin that he can potentially retire on if things don’t work out for him in this weight class or at 154. Brook might be stuck if he can’t get back down to 147. Even if he can get back down to 147, he would be facing really strong fighters in that weight class like Errol Spence Jr., his IBF mandatory challenger that he would need to fight if he wanted to hold onto his IBF title.
Golovkin could wreck Brook’s hopes and dreams of making middleweight his new home. Brook needs a win or at least a close drama-filled loss to convince the boxing world and himself that he can make something happen in this weight class. If Brook can’t handle Golovkin on Saturday night, then there will be a lot of doubts in the minds of fans whether he’s cut out for this division. There’s guys like Chris Eubank Jr. and Daniel Jacobs that present their difficulties for someone like Brook, who wasn’t a middleweight straight out of the gate when he started his career Those guys will always have an advantage over Brook, because they’re naturally cut out for the division.