“I’ve visualized the knockout already”
Kell Brook might be a significant underdog going into his September 10 challenge of middleweight ruler Gennady Golovkin, he might be having his very first fight not one but two weight classes above his career-long tenure at welterweight, and he might be going in with the single hardest puncher in boxing today. But Brook – who is either talking a great game that hides his real feelings or is utterly convinced for real that he will win – says he does not care about what Golovkin will be doing in the ring he will share with him in London next month.
In fact Brook, in speaking with Sky Sports (who will of course televise the fight live on Box-Office) says he has already seen the knockout he will score over GGG in just over 30 day’s time. Okay, Brook has only seen it in his own mind, but “The Special One” says the strength of his mind, along with the power and accuracy of his fists, will see him to victory.
Brook argues how many fighters were beaten even before they stepped into the ring with GGG (shades of the peak Mike Tyson, a fighter Golovkin has been compared to as far as being able to effectively utilise intimidation tactics; even if Tyson did it with a snarl, GGG with a smile) but that this will in no way happen to him.
“It’s going to come down to mind, this fight. It’s not about who’s the strongest (physically). It’s about who thinks the best,” Brook told Sky Sports News. “But I’m not interested in what he’s going to be doing. I’m more interested in what I’m going to be doing. I’ve heard about his power and I’ve got respect for him but I’m going to concentrate on what I’m going to do. I’ll do what I want, when I want, as often as I want in this fight. I’m always looking to knock my opponent out. I visualised the knockout already against this guy. My record speaks for itself and I like to win.”
Brook is perfect as a pro at 36-0(25) and whilst compiling this fine record the Sheffield fighter has scored some nice KO’s. But look at Brook’s biggest stoppage wins, over: Vyacheslav Senchenko, Carson Jones (in their return meeting) and Frankie Gavin – and it’s painfully apparent how Brook has never come close to stopping (or defeating) a fighter of Golovkin’s calibre. It would, without a doubt, be the single biggest shock of 2016 if Brook were either to render GGG unconscious (as big a shock as when Buster Douglas flattened the aforementioned Tyson?) or halt him via a TKO (on cuts or by forcing the referee to dive in call an end to the proceedings).
But Brook, a proud fighter who wants to hear nothing from those critics who claim he is taking this fight primarily for the hefty payday, cannot be blamed for thinking big. And that, even his harshest critics must agree, he is certainly doing. Is it possible that Golovkin-Brook is the biggest, most hyped fight of the year? Let’s just hope the action on fight night matches at least half of this hype.