When Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook was announced, the fight was met with much derision.
Kell Brook is one of the best fighters in the world, but he holds a title at 147 pounds. GGG is a full-fledged middleweight and holds three titles at 160. The Kazakh is ranked No. 2 in USA TODAY?s pound-for-pound rankings, so why should he face a much-smaller man?
Well, maybe that man isn?t much smaller after all.
The IBF welterweight champ shocked everyone at Wednesday?s WBC-mandated 30-day weigh-in by tipping the scales at the maximum allowed ? 176 pounds. And he clearly wore it well in a picture provided by the organization, trim and ripped. Golovkin weighed in at 165.
Brook and promoter Eddie Hearn have said from the start that this is different from the oft-criticized May matchup between Canelo Alvarez and Amir Khan. For that bout, Khan, a chinny 147-pounder, climbed eight pounds and was knocked cold.
Brook was clearly taller than Golovkin at the introductory press conference next month and now has shown he has the build to carry the weight and still look incredibly trim.
Will the weight gain allow Brook to shock the world and beat the long odds (he?s about a 5-1 underdog, per Sportsbook Review)? Time will tell if Wednesday was simply misdirection.
But it gives fans hope that GGG, who is facing an elite opponent for the first time, may actually face some adversity and face a man who isn?t just a blown-up welterweight.
?I?m very healthy at 160,? Brook said, via the Daily Mail. ?I?m hydrated and eating well, nice sized meals that are giving me so much energy and I?m giving more of myself in the gym.
?I?m going to be so sharp and so powerful on the night. No one has got the best out of me before, but GGG will bring that out in me and I?m excited to see that from myself. I always find a way to win and there?s going to be massive drama in the fight.?
