The 02 Arena in London hosts HBO boxing this coming Saturday, September 10th with a 12-round middleweight main event that sees Gennady Golovkin taking on Kell Brook for Triple G’s IBF, WBC and IBO world titles. Both men enter the fight undefeated, with Brook coming in at (36-0) and Golovkin (35-0). Brook is the current IBF world champion at welterweight, and he is coming up two weight classes to take on the hard-hitting Golovkin. That is the main factor contributing to Golovkin being a big favorite at the books. Middleweight 12 rounds – Kell Brook +500 Gennady Golovkin -700 There is no over/under on this fight yet, check back during fight week of the fight for that line, as Triple G is known as a KO artist with a long string of consecutive knock outs and 32 total stoppages to his name. Brook has 25 KOs, which is not too shabby in its own right. Brook is considered to be stepping up to a big challenge, and many give him very little chance of overcoming Golovkin’s advantages. The advantage of size expected to be on Golovkin’s side seems to be nullified 30 days before the fight when both men had “official” weight checks and Brook weighed in at a stout 176 pounds to Golovkin’s 167 pounds. Brook is not the biggest star in the UK, but as an undefeated world champion known as “The Special One”, Brook will be counting on a home field advantage. The fact is that the O2 arena sold out pretty fast, and a lot of that may be the fervent British fans desire to see Golovkin live, but you can expect a heavily pro-Brook crowd come September 10th. The fact that he is not as big a name as rival Amir Khan or other less decorated British fighters should serve as a motivating factor for Brook as well. Brook was considered a big welterweight, and the thought is that no one in the welterweight division hits as hard as Golovkin does. Brook, however, feels he will be stronger heading into the fight without the drastic weight cutting it takes him to get to 147 lbs and fight welter. In terms of pure boxing technique, Brook has shown himself to be a precise, and well-honed boxer who has proven to be impossible to beat so far. Golovkin is considered one of the top fighters in the world for a reason – no one has been able to prevent him from imposing his will in a boxing match so far. In Brook however, he clearly faces the most highly skilled opponent he has had to contend with as a professional. A win for Golovkin opens up the British market for him, with potential fights down the line including Carl Froch, Chris Eubank Jr and Billy Joe Saunders. If Brook returns to welterweight after a loss, he will still be holding the IBF world title and would be facing a mandatory challenge against Errol Spence Jr (21-0).
