The public reaction to the bombshell announcement that Gennady Golovkin was ditching a date with Chris Eubank Jr., who?d flirted but played hard to get too long, and instead hitching up with ? wait, who? Kell Brook!??? ? had the masses buzzing all day Friday.
The immediate reaction to the middleweight defense set for Sept. 10 was ?WTH?? Then, beyond that, some were lauding Brook as the possessor of some massive stones.
And others were telling 3G to pick on someone his own size.
I checked with with 2015 BWAA Trainer of the Year Abel Sanchez, tutor to the Kazakhstani stalker, to get his take on Golovkin vs. Brook, who right now holds the IBF welterweight title.
Hey Abel ? Did Brook make a severe mistake, allowing courage to override common sense, when he slid around Eubank and gave a thumbs up when promoter Eddie Hearn suggested this stable switch?
?Did Ray Leonard (welterweight), or Tito Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya make a courage mistake when they challenged a middleweight? Kell Brook is the welterweight champion and probably the best welter in the world. We seem to forget that others have tried and succeeded, Leonard against who most people still consider the best middleweight ever, Marvin Hagler. Jose Napoles, unlike hefty Brook a small welter, jumped straight to 160 to fight a far bigger 160-pounder than GGG in Carlos Monzon,? Sanchez continued. ?And didn?t Shane Mosley move up two weight classes, from 135 to 147, to face De La Hoya? The first time, Duran was 135 and beat Leonard, 147. Now what is the difference, if those were OK? Or is it that we are witnessing the greatest middleweight and people are in fear for the opponents??
He gave more insight into how and why the deal went down. ?Our date available for HBO is 9/10, Eubank took up a lot of time ? and to try and negotiate with someone not with Eddie Hearn would take how much time? The date is nine weeks away. We lose that date, we don?t fight until when? Brook is promoted by Hearn and he got offered the same deal Eubank had on the table, Brook agreed in principle immediately and two days later it was agreed to totally and announced. Brook sees an opportunity. He is an established world champion doing what other great champions of the past have done, finding out where they will stand in time.?
And how, Abel, do you rate Brook on paper, as compared to Dominic Wade, David Lemieux, Willie Monroe? ?And as a defending champion,? the trainer answered, ?I have to rate him above the other challengers that have stepped up.?
Let?s hear from you, readers. Many fine and fair points from Sanchez; what say you about Golovkin vs. Brook?
