HBO Fight Preview

Gennady Golovkin vs. Kell Brook

Saturday night should be a special one for HBO with two of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the sport both in action on the network.  The first of those fights will air live late in the afternoon in the United States but it will take place in London.  That will be a 12-round middleweight title fight between knockout artist Gennady Golovkin and skilled boxer-puncher Kell Brook.  On the line will be Golovkin's WBA, WBC, and IBF titles.  That fight will be broadcast live on HBO in the U.S. in the late afternoon, early evening hours.  It will also be replayed that same night with two other great fights rounding out the card.

Golovkin's power seems otherworldly 

By not it is no secret that Golovkin, who fights out of the orthodox stance, is a knockout machine.  In fact you would have to go back to 2008 to find a fight where his opponent was still standing at the final bell.  Golovkin fights behind a stiff-arm like jab that often lands like a power punch.  Perhaps the most underappreciated aspect of his skill set though is just how adept he is at cutting off the ring and keeping his opponents where he wants them.  What makes Golovkin so dangerous is that it doesn't matter if he hits you upstairs or to the body or if he connects with a left hook or a right hand, every punch he throws seems to do damage, not matter where it lands.  In fact his power is so dangerous that he has dropped his last five opponents a total of 10 times.  There may be some room to question the defense of Golovkin as he often does eat a number of clean punches but he insists he does that when he knows his opponent can't hurt him and he does it for the excitement of the fans.  

The one real knock that some fans have against Golovkin is that he has never faced an elite opponent.  However, when you look as destructive as Golovkin does it is often hard to get any elite fighters to agree to fight you.  Despite not having that elite name on his resume Golovkin has thrilled fans and has put together a perfect record of 35-0 with an almost unfair 32 knockouts.  And it isn't just that Golovkin wins, he dominates.  A bout against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is the fight all fans want to see but Golovkin needs to be careful not to overlook the highly skilled Brook if he ever wants the fight with Alvarez to come to fruition.  

Brook is looking to shock the boxing world

Brook is also an orthodox fighter and while he may not have the power that Golovkin does he can certainly punch.  Along with his solid power Brook is also a skilled boxer who can often take his opponent out of their fight with impeccable strategy.  Brook has a very good jab and it too is stiff.  He also does a tremendous job of catching opponents on the way in, something that helped him beat Shawn Porter.  Brook is a calm fighter with a very high ring IQ and he puts in good work with both hands since he has plus power in his left hook and right hand.

How good you think Brook is may depend on how good you think Porter is.  Porter was Brook's toughest fight to date and the U.K. native had to work very hard and fight somewhat safe in order to secure the majority decision victory.  Now Porter's style is incredibly awkward so the fact that Brook didn't dominate that fight should be shocking but the way he handled himself and made Porter fight his fight was impressive.  Also impressive is Brook's career record of 36-0 with a strong 25 knockouts.  When this fight was announced many fans were unhappy because Brook would be jumping over the junior middleweight division to fight Golovkin as a middleweight.  However, it has to be noted that Brook is a very big welterweight and he has fought as high as junior middleweight before so it isn't quite the same as when Amir Khan took on Alvarez.

How good this fight is or how long it lasts really comes down to Brook.  Fans already known what Golovkin brings to the table and he will be comfortable with the weight since the middleweight division is one he has been fighting in for his entire career.  What will be interesting is how Brook looks at the higher weight and how he handles Golovkin's punches but also how his own power punches look at the higher weight.  Brook has hinted that he may not go back to welterweight so a move up was probably coming soon anyway.  While Golovkin will have a size advantage it will be a very small one of about an inch and a half of height and an inch of reach.  Brook will have to decide early if he wants to try and outbox Golovkin by sticking and moving or if he wants to go to war, and that chose will be the major factor in who wins this fight.

PREDICTION: Amir Khan was able to bother Saul "Canelo" Alvarez early in their fight with his blazing hand speed and movement but eventually Alvarez's power caught up to Khan and the fight was abruptly over.  Unfortunately for Brook he doesn't have that same hand speed but he is a heavier hitter and a bigger man.  Those factors will help him last longer than Khan did but the outcome won't be much different.  Gennady Golovkin is a wrecking ball with skills and precision and eventually his power will be too much for Brook and Golovkin will win this fight by the way of ninth round stoppage.