Tom Loeffler, the promoter for undefeated middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, said Friday that it was Eddie Hearn, the promoter for both Chris Eubank Jr. and Kell Brook, who suggested that Brook could and would fight Golovkin when talks with Eubank broke down last week.
In a shocking development on Friday, it was announced that Brook (36-0, 25 KOs), the IBF welterweight champion, would move up two weight classes to fight Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs, including 22 in a row) for the unified middleweight titles at the O2 Arena in London on Sept. 10. It will be broadcast in the U.S. by HBO.
Loeffler, director of K2 Promotions, said he thought things were going along smoothly for a Golovkin-Eubank Jr. matchup, and figured they would close the deal soon, until he received a call from Hearn on Wednesday.
?He said they hit some roadblocks in closing the deal and didn?t think it was going to happen,? Loeffler said. ?And then he suggested he would call Kell Brook because Brook in the past has said he would move up to fight Gennady.
?A few hours later Eddie called me up and said Brook will take the fight under the same conditions he offered the fight to Eubank. So it?s the same date, the same venue, it?s on Sky Box Office over there in London at the O2 Arena and it?ll be on HBO over here in the states. It will be a career-high payday for Brook and we closed the deal in two days after they got the verbal commitment from Brook.
?That just goes to show that if two fighters want to fight it?s easy to make the fight. If one fighter wants to fight and the other one doesn?t it?s impossible to make the fight. We give Brook a lot of credit and also Eddie Hearn was very creative in coming up with that suggestion.?
Hearn told Sky Sports in London that Eubank and his father made impossible demands.
?I worked for three weeks on that fight, negotiating with Chris Eubank Sr. It felt like three years,? Hearn said. ?We got into a position where everybody was ready to sign. He (Eubank Jr) was offered the same pay-per-view deal as Anthony Joshua, Carl Froch and the one that Kell Brook accepted.
?Unfortunately they (the Eubanks) made the deal impossible. The things they wanted were just a complete no-go. They were given a deadline and they chose not to take the fight.?
Eubank Jr. said on Twitter Friday he was never offered a contract to sign.
Loeffler is not sure what happened, but said that ?if Eddie tells me he can?t make the fight I have to go by what he?s saying.?
Loeffler agreed this could be a dangerous fight for Golovkin, considering he has little to gain by beating a man moving up two weight classes, and much to lose if he is defeated by the smaller fighter. He suggests, however, that the size difference is not that great.
?It?s one of those where it?s high risk, high reward for Brook. If he wins, he?s considered the best middleweight in the world. All of a sudden Kell Brook makes history,? Loeffler said. ?He?s undefeated, a big welterweight (36-0), he?s got good power and Gennady?s a small middleweight. So on paper it might seem like a big difference, but when he stands next to Gennady, Brook is 5-9, and Gennady is 5-10. So if they stand next to each other at the press conference or the weigh-in, physically it?s not going to be a big difference.?
Loeffler said this fight is nothing like Canelo-Khan in May, which ended with Canelo brutally knocking out Khan, who moved up two weight classes.
?The difference here is that Brook has never lost before, never been stopped, and he?s got the speed and he?s also got the power at welterweight,? Loeffler said. ?Knowledgeable fans know we tried to get bigger fighters in the ring to fight Gennady. The Canelo fight wasn?t going to happen. We tried to get Billy Joe Saunders to unify the titles, that fight wouldn?t happen. The Eubank fight, Eddie couldn?t close that deal, so it?s a big difference with Kell Brook taking the fight.
?He gets a lot of credit for moving up. It?s a high profile fight not only for him but also for Gennady. There?s not a lot of multiple title world champions at the top of their division that are willing to go fight internationally in the other fighter?s hometown.
?So even though Brook is moving up in weight, Gennady is going to his country and Brook has the home-crowd advantage. It?s the biggest fight of Kell Brook?s career for sure and it?s very rare for a guy like Gennady, who?s the best in his division and who has multiple world titles to go over and fight in someone else?s home country.?
As for GGG-Canelo, Loeffler said, ?We would?ve like to make that fight as soon as possible, but Canelo moved down in weight and gave up the WBC middleweight title. And that was Gennady?s goal to get that title.
?We have a good relationship with Golden Boy, so whenever is the soonest possible we can make that fight, we?ll do everything from our side. My guess is that fight will happen next year and most likely in September of 2017. But you never know what happens between now and then.?
Asked of Golovkin was happy with the fight, Loeffler said, ?Gennady is happy about any fight. Definitely this is a much higher profile fight than we had before, and I think it?s going to be a win-win situation for both fighters.?
