Kell Brook gave it a damn fine shot last night, as he challenged the fierce, relentless punching machine that is the unbeaten (unbeatable?) middleweight king Gennady Golovkin. Showing the kind of admirable grit that makes fight fans so passionate about the sport of boxing, the outgunned challenger met fire with fire.
Brook really had no choice but to fight back as best he could, as GGG was soon showing off his superb ability at cutting off the ring, giving the faster Brook no room to work.
It was a great action fight while it lasted, but the writing was on the wall from the very first-round; if GGG was a tank, Brook was a machine gun. The frightening power Triple-G possesses were inflicting notable damage and it wasn’t long before Brook’s face was being ruined. Had the fight gone on longer than it did, Brook, who would never have quit, might have taken a sickening beating. As it was, the IBF welterweight champ took a nasty hammering.
Amazingly, the more bloodthirsty elements in the large, sold-out O2 crowd, were uncivilized enough to loudly boo Brooks trainer Dominic Ingle, a compassionate and clued up trainer/corner-man who knew it was an impossible situation for his fighter. Brook was saved, we hope, from a career ending beating and he can now come back – he said post-fight down at 154 – next year. Before he can even think about fighting the likes of the Canelo Alvarez-Liam Smith winner, though, Brook will have surgery to repair the right eye socket Golovkin cracked in the early going of last night’s fight.
“Thanks for the messages. Special K Brook now left hospital – confirmed broken eye socket op on Monday in Sheffield,” Eddie Hearn tweeted around 3 A.M today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkeBdm8sMkY
Hopefully, Brook, who in defeat showed his skills as best he could, as well as his heart and guts for battle, will be able to come again. As a 154-pounder, if he suffers no ill effects from his first pro defeat, Brook could be quite a force. As for GGG, now 36-0(33) he will likely continue to experience the biggest obstacle of his career: getting quality opponents to agree to face him. GGG called out WBO middleweight champ Billy Joe Saunders and the whole world wants to see Golovkin get it on with Canelo.
But after watching the damage GGG was able to inflict on Brook inside 15 minutes, will these fighters be in the mood to risk their titles, records and their very well-being?
