For the past few days, the biggest debate in boxing has had to do with whether Gennady Golovkin was receiving a pass from boxing fans for facing Kell Brook when Canelo Alvarez was heavily criticized for doing the same thing when he fought Amir Khan earlier this year.
The obvious parallels are in the fact that both Khan and Brook are welterweights who chose to jump two weight classes. It didn?t work out so well for Khan and many expect the same with Brook.
But, honestly, that?s where the parallels stop.
Look, we all would like to see Gennady Golovkin face some stiff competition at middleweight. However, those within his weight class haven?t exactly jumped at the opportunity to face him. And for those that did, they were considered to be no-name tomato cans by boxing fans and posed little threat to GGG?s middleweight title reign. That criticism from his detractors has followed Golovkin since his reign began and showed no signs of slowing down.
Gennady Golovkin vs. Kell Brook comes as a direct result of Canelo opting to not face the middleweight champ in favor of ?working his way up? to the 160-pound weight limit with the possibility of the two squaring off in September of 2017. With no real dance partners in sight, GGG needed a ?big? fight with a recognizable name in a huge venue. And that fight came in the form of unbeaten Kell Brook at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Before you get all worked up, take in consideration that there are a number of significant differences between GGG-Brook and Canelo-Khan.
First and foremost, Brook is unbeaten as a pro with a record of 36-0 with 25 knockouts. Khan fought Canelo with three losses in his portfolio. But, more importantly, Khan had been knocked out twice at lightweight and light welterweight. Not to mention that he?s been rocked in his fair share of fights and his chin has always been in question ever since Breidis Prescott railroaded him back in 2008 with a first-round knockout. Brook is a career welterweight that didn?t climb weight classes to get to 147. He?s always been considered a ?big? welterweight but his chin has been sturdy. Granted, the likelihood that he stays upright against Golovkin is slim; it?s still something that sets him apart from Khan.
There?s also this little issue of how big Canelo blows up to on fight night versus Golovkin. When Canelo fights, he becomes almost a light heavyweight while GGG barely gains more than a few pounds. So the disparity between GGG-Brook and Canelo-Khan will be significantly different. GGG will still have a weight advantage, but it won?t be like watching the Hulk face Ant-Man on fight night.
Let?s also point out the fact that GGG wasn?t left with much of a choice after Canelo has forced him to find opponents to face while the Mexican looks to work his way up to a middleweight fight. Sure, GGG could have fought Erislandy Lara (and that?s actually the fight I prefer to see) but, if nothing else, Golovkin has earned the right to go after a significant payday. Brook offers that with his drawing power overseas while Lara lacks any appeal outside of hardcore boxing fans.
However, if Billy Joe Saunders, Chris Eubank Jr. or any other credible middleweight doesn?t emerge out of the shadows to face Golovkin next, he should most definitely face Lara. Considering how narrow the fight with Canelo was, GGG can use his performance against Lara (if he wins, of course) as leverage in negotiations as well as with the fans. Of course, that means that everything for a GGG-Lara fight needs to line up in terms of money, location, weight, etc. Sounds easy, but this is boxing.
A fight with Brook is still a middleweight against a welterweight so everything I pointed out doesn?t absolve Golovkin of all of the criticism because you can?t please everyone. But it should certainly silence a few. But let?s be clear that Brook isn?t the first fighter to make a successful jump to middleweight. It?s a daring throwback to the ?80s when three welterweights climbed to middleweight for a fight with Marvin Hagler: Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Not to say that GGG is Hagler or Brook is on the level of any of the aforementioned welterweights, but Brook is daring to be great and should be credited for the risk of putting his unbeaten record on the line against a knockout artist looking to paint yet another portrait with a body on the canvas. After all, for American audiences, being unbeaten is all Brook has.
