In a fight that was always going to end up being a Gennady Golovkin victory, the best middleweight fighter beat up Kell Brook for five rounds before the Brit’s corner threw in the towel, no longer being able to stand the abuse the lineal division champion dished out against the previously undefeated opponent.
Golovkin has pretty much run out of Middleweight opponents, but for his own reasons, despite looking for big fights and paydays, refuses to budge from the 154-160 rage. As a result, Brook, hungry for a big fight after going 36-0 to hold the IBF Welterweight title but without anything impressive on his CV, jumped up two weight categories, and the saying goes, got his a** handed to him, resulting in TKO, the 23rd consecutive time the undefeated Golovkin didn’t need to go the distance.
Golovkin landed 133 of his 301 punches according to CompuBox, 44% of his punches. Brook landed only 85 of the 261 he threw, 33%, and very few of them had any power in them. Brook tried to save face after the fight, saying he saw Golovkin’s leg buckle after a couple of punches, but it certainly didn’t look that way from a viewers standpoint. Golovkin had better and worse moments during the fight, but he was in complete control, and was the one busy dishing out physical abuse.
Golovkin isn’t know for being patient or tactical in his fights. Regardless of the hostile and pro-Brook environment inside the O2 Arena, Golovkin began with a big left hook and although Brook shook it off, landing a few clean shots, Golovkin never seemed to be bothered. He’s rarely been bothered with anything been thrown his way during his career. In the second round Brook used his length to stay away from Golovkin, but couldn’t avoid a big right to his head, followed with a left. This led to a slugfest which had the fans on their feet, in a very enjoyable round. But Golovkin never seemed bothered by the shots from Brook.
Brook needed to go to the hospital due to a broken orbital bone around his right eye. He said that after Golovkin delivered that hit, he couldn’t see him well, which made it impossible for him to keep up and avoid getting hit. Golovkin kept going after the right side of Brook’s face, mixed with some big body shots. Brook stayed on his feet, but didn’t look like someone who is going to turn the fight around, not for a moment in either round.
Things turned ugly in the fifth. Brook wouldn’t back down, but Golovkin kept hitting him from all directions, at some point landing 12 consecutive unanswered punches. At first, referee Marlon Wright didn’t notice Brook’s corner, specifically Dominic Ingle, waiving the white towel. Golovkin managed a few more shots before the fight was stopped at 1 minute, 57 seconds. Golovkin later praised Brook for holding on. His corner for making the right decision, but said that this division isn’t for Brook.
What’s next? Canelo Alvarez refuses to fight Golovkin, who plans to go ahead with the November 26 date HBO has reserved for him. A secondary titlist and mandatory challenger Daniel Jacobs has already said he would like to fight Golovkin, recently beating Sergio Mora in a rematch. Golovkin would love Billy Joe Saunders to unify the belts, but Saunders has been refusing to fight him. Overall, doesn’t seem like Golovkin has a problem to fight anyone, at least in his weight class. It does seem that very few fighters actually want a piece of him at the moment.