Watch the full interview with Golovkin on the above video.
Advertisement
Despite the verbal barbs, they finally appeared to be on course to settle their differences earlier this year, until Khan snubbed a proposed Wembley showdown on June 4 to challenge Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for the WBC world middleweight title.
Instead, Alvarez dumped the belt and took a fight with 154-pound titleholder Liam Smith on September 17. On a 22-bout knockout streak, Golovkin has compiled an extraordinary knockout-to-win ratio of 91%, and no opponent has gone the distance with him since June 2008.
Kell Brook will take inspiration from Muhammad Ali’s defeat of Sonny Liston when he begins boxing’s most intimidating challenge.
However, boxing great Leonard, who made his name as a welterweight, came out of retirement to beat world middleweight champion Marvin Hagler in 1987. This is boxing. Brook has never been hit by a 160lb fighter, so we will have to wait and see how good his chin is. Hagler shamed some of his fiercest rivals to fight, but shame is no longer a trading commodity, a reason for risking it all in an old-fashioned boxing match; the modern sport would somehow have conspired through foul tricks to keep Hagler and Golovkin in separate universes, each devoted to opposing paymasters in an orbit of the damned. On the surface, it’s a reasonable question, but the situations are different. With a win, he would become the sixth fighter to accomplish this feat.
“I’ve been telling everyone I want to fight the best and this guy is the man”. “He’s genuinely excited to fight Gennady Golovkin”.
A super-fight in the capital was on the cards back then, with Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler admitting the London Stadium was a potential venue. “He looks strong and big”.
The Kazakh goes into the fight as heavy favourite with Brook having jumped up two weight classes, but Golovkin is wary of threat posed by his British opponent.
“Yes, he was too small as a welterweight, but the more I’ve seen of him, the more he looks up for it”. Golovkin has trucked the middleweight division with such brutal force that basically nobody at 160 wants a damn thing to do with him anymore.
Brook has been more focused than ever for his matchup against Golovkin. This was before Golovkin had adopted his inside fighting skills that he has today.
One thing is for certain for both fighters… He’s a 147-pound champion, but a champion nonetheless, which is a welcome sight. There are some great champions from the UK. Tszyu had injury problems, inactivity issues, and he had to lose a lot of weight to get down to the 140lb limit. It will be on Alvarez’s terms and at his weight.
Advertisement
K2 Promotions will have the lead fighter in Saturday’s co-promotion with Matchroom. He’ll take it with the opportunity to prove that he is indeed the better of the two.
