Boxing Superstar and Unified Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin was officially presented with his World Boxing Council title belt by WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman in Mexico City on Saturday, July 9.
Joining Golovkin and Sulaiman at the ceremony attended by a huge contingent of local media were K2 Promotions’ Tom Loeffler, Golovkin’s longtime trainer Abel Sanchez, manager Oleg Hermann and Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Mexico Andrian Yelemessov.
![Abel Sanchez on GGG-Brook: “We seem to forget that others have tried [moving up in weight] and succeeded”](https://www.boxing247.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/1-Golovkin_Wade_AY1J2028.jpg "Photo: Abel Sanchez on GGG-Brook: “We seem to forget that others have tried [moving up in weight] and succeeded”")
In the history of boxing only a few very special fighters have managed to move up from welterweight to middleweight and rule the world there too. We are, on September 10, when he challenges the feared Gennady Golovkin for middleweight gold, going to see if Kell Brook is destined to go down as one of these special fighters (or just go down, as the IBF welter champ’s critics suggest).
It’s not had anywhere near the hype, the attention or anything like the shock factor, but this Saturday’s fight that will see a challenge of the sublime Guillermo Rigondeaux by James Dickens, better known as Jazza, is just as lofty a task of a fight for a British boxer as the Kell Brook-Gennady Golovkin bout. In fact, if anything, Dickens, 22-1(7) will enter the ring in Cardiff, Wales as an even bigger underdog than Brook will against GGG in London in September.
British fighters, even rivals in the sport, often rally around one another when the need arises (see the selfless gestures a number of British fighters made in aid of the recently retired Nick Blackwell; David Haye especially). And this need, in the form of wishing to get behind Kell Brook as he enters his absolutely massive, potentially life and career-changing fight with the feared Gennady Golovkin, has arisen again.
(Credit: Dave Nadkarni/Premier Boxing Champions) TRENTON, NJ (July 10, 2016) – Undefeated rising super featherweight contender Mario Barrios (16-0, 8 KOs) defeated former title challenger Devis Boschiero (39-5-1, 21 KOs) by unanimous decision (120-107 X 3) in the 12-round main event of Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN & ESPN Deportes from Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey.
From the opening bell, Barrios asserted himself as the aggressor, landing his jab at will and finding his distance early.
By Paul “Paparazzi” Jones & Justin Jones |Photo © Showtime
July 30, 2016 marks the return of former two-division world champion Mikey Garcia(34-0, 28 KOs) after a 2 ½ year layoff due, in large part, to a contractual dispute with his former promoter, Top Rank.
Garcia puts his undefeated record on the line against former Featherweight titlist Elio “The Kid” Rojas(24-2, 14 KOs) in a 10-round Super Lightweight bout televised on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
An interesting heavyweight match-up will take place on the July 30th Matchroom card in Leeds, as Dillian Whyte will face unbeaten Dave Allen for vacant WBC international belt. The 17-1(14) Whyte, who gave current IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua a great fight last December and is aiming to earn a second crack at A.J, will be having his second return bout since the 7th-round KO loss he suffered. Allen, 9-0-1(6) will be taking a step up in class against the man who is four years his senior at age 28, but “The White Rhino,” as Allen is called, has been asking for a fight with Whyte for some time.
Monday’s HBO World Championship Boxing telecast begins at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT.
The fight is a 12-round light heavyweight title bout, featuring Sergey Kovalev defending his unified titles against Isaac Chilemba.
Official Weights from Russia:
Sergey Kovalev: 174.6 lbs.
Isaac Chilemba: 174.8 lbs.
![Amir Khan: British fighters [are] running the sport of boxing right now](https://www.boxing247.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/1-khan-canelo-8.jpg "Photo: Amir Khan: British fighters [are] running the sport of boxing right now")
The similarity between Amir Khan’s brave but ultimately unsuccessful step up to fight Saul Canelo Alvarez, and Kell Brook’s decision to do likewise against Gennady Golovkin has not been lost on fight fans. Some fans have applauded Brook, as they applauded Khan, but others have criticised Golovkin the way they criticised Alvarez, for picking on a naturally smaller man. But whether you liked Khan’s challenge of Canelo or not and whether you like Brook’s challenge of GGG or not, one thing is clear: both fights are recognised as huge fights for British boxing.
It takes a lot to shock Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum, as one would expect with a man who is in his eighties and has been around boxing for decades. But the Top Rank boss could not hide his shock over yesterday’s big announcement regarding Gennady Golovkin’s upcoming fight with Kell Brook. Speaking with RingTV.com, Arum called the fight, “F-ckin crazy!”
“Golovkin is fighting who?” Arum said to Ring. “I don’t believe that. That’s crazy. I mean, Golovkin is fighting a welterweight? You hear something crazy every day. I’m not surprised, I’m a little shocked. Is that even a fight? That is absolutely f-ckin crazy.”