Bombshell – GGG To Face Kell Brook
By: Sean Crose
“It’s official. I will be facing off against @SpecialKBrook Sept. 10 in #London. Ready
for my first #UK fight.”
Those words, my friends, come straight from the Twitter account of the one and only Gennady Golovkin. Surprise, surprise. Who’d have thunk that middleweight titlist GGG – one of the most avoided men in boxing – would end up facing IBF welterweight champ Brook in a mega-bout, in Brook’s homeland, no less? You read that right, the fight’s going down in London in September…of this year. Oh, and the bout’s reportedly at the 160-pound middleweight limit.
Take that, Canelo Alvarez.
“Sept 10th at @TheO2” an excited Brook Tweeted, “I will take on the most feared fighter on
the planet @GGGBoxing – let’s go UK #2weight#2time”
Followers of the sport have every right to be surprised by all this. After all, word was that Brook was all but set to face Jessie Vargas in a welterweight throwdown. There was also word that GGG would be facing Brook’s fellow Englishman Chris Eubank Jr, who now might be feeling a bit silly.
“Per @TomLoeffler1,” ESPNs Dan Rafael Tweeted, “Brook took the same deal from @EddieHearn that
Eubank turned down. #GGGBrook” That’s right, it’s being reported that middleweight Eubank refused to fight GGG after shooting off his mouth and calling the man out publicly. If true, that makes Eubank very much a modern fighter.
And it also makes Brook, for lack of a better term, look like the kind of ballsy fighter this sport needs a lot more of. Knock him and Amir Khan all you want for moving up to middleweight, these Brits are bringing it. While a number of boxing’s name fighters seem downright timid – especially in comparison to their UFC c counterparts, who don’t seem to ever fear a serious challenge – Brook and Khan aren’t afraid to dive into the deep end of the pool.
Sure enough, I don’t mind this match. While it’s true it looks a bit nuts on the surface of things, it’s features a domineering fighter getting his turn in the spotlight against a top competitor who’s daring to be great. What’s not to like? Now, should GGG win before willfully moving on to easy competition, I’ll have a serious problem with the guy. For now, though, I don’t think there’s much to complain about. It’s not like GGG hasn’t been wanting to fight other top middleweights.
It’s simply not his fault if those guys don’t want to face him.
