By Aeron Rees: On Saturday 10/9/16, we finally welcome one of the most eagerly anticipated bouts of the year, although that probably says more about the matchmaking in 2016 than it does the significance of the fight itself. That being said it is not often in boxing we get to see 2 unbeaten fighters square off at the highest level, with Kell Brook stepping up 2 weight divisions to take on Gennady Golovkin in what is now an exhibition match since the WBA will not sanction it to be for GGG’s belt. It is widely accepted that Kel Brook does not have a chance, this writer thinks Kell will surprise a few.
One criticism often leveled at Brook is his lack of decent names on his CV although he does hold wins over some decent fighters like Gavin, Senchenko, Lovemore N’Dou and Shawn Porter. Kell Brooks main problem is he was largely avoided throughout his career, it wasn’t until Kell was 30-0 that he started to gain the recognition he deserved in the States. Kell has excellent technical ability, is difficult to fight against and holds a decent amount of power with 25KO’s in 36 fights.
The fact that he hasn’t been the most talked about fighter either means he has been a real high risk/low reward fight despite the fact he has the ability to mix it with the best in the world in the ring. It speaks volumes about the frustration Kell must be experiencing as has decided to fight GGG, simply because no one at WW wants the Brook fight (apart from recently Errol Spence). Brook has been operating at WW for a while now and while he has been mentioned for fights with Mayweather, Moseley, Bradley, Pacqiuao, Cotto, Canelo, Marquez and Thurman none have shown any desire to put pen to paper and this is for good reason.
Brook is deservedly ranked at #1 WW by the Ring magazine and no one is eager to face him. While it is argued that GGG will be the best opponent Brook has faced, that exact same criticism can be levelled at GGG himself. While GGG has a larger following and has more hype behind him, his calibre of opponents has been a real mixed bag in fact it’s similar to Brooks standard of opposition with Lemieux being GGG’s biggest win he also holds wins over Macklin, Murray, Monroe Jr and a host of largely unknown fighters.
GGG has never faced anyone who is near Kell’s boxing ability, while GGG has destroyed opponents we have seen him get caught and also look uncomfortable at times when he has faced decent technical fighters. Dominic Ingle (Brooks trainer) has been quoted as saying GGG’s power hides his mistakes and although this may be true make no mistake GGG is a very good boxer, he is far away from a one punch knockout artist. Recently Carl Froch has uncharacteristically spoken up praising a fighter other than himself and was quoted as saying Brook will cause GGG a lot of problems.
It is this writers belief that GGG is perhaps slightly over hyped, especially considered the calibre of opponents he has faced. While many would say that’s because fighters have been ducking him, this writer would argued the exact same case for Brook. I would conclude that this fact is very even and difficult to call. Anyone who thinks GGG will KO Brook as soon as he lands is deeply misguided. This fight will undoubtedly go 12 rounds in this writers eyes and will prove the biggest and toughest test in each fighters career to date.
Prediction: Brook MD.