The United Kingdom’s Kell Brook and Los Angeles-based Kazakhstan-native Gennday Golovkin engaged in an all out war for five riveting rounds in London’s O2 Arena Saturday night. The fight ended with Brook’s first professional loss, but he learned nothing about defeat.
Sheffield, Yorkshire’s Kell “The Special One” Brook – the IBF world welterweight titleholder – displayed far more courage in his performance versus WBC/IBF/IBO middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin than this writer could muster to publish a prediction piece for the fight’s final outcome. Maybe the piece never came together out of respect for Brook. Maybe it was hard to go against the unwritten rules of the sport. This fight pitted a top five welterweight against a feared, heavy-handed and undefeated middleweight boasting a string of 22 consecutive knock out victories. Everybody knows what good bigger men do to good little men!
In fact, this past May fight fans witnessed a crucial reminder of one of boxing’s steadfast truisms when former WBC middleweight titlist Saul “Canelo” Alvarez violently pulled the rug from beneath welterweight contender Amir Khan. Khan, up 3-2 on the judges’ cards, was abruptly knocked unconscious by an Alvarez overhand right that was thrown like a foregone conclusion that had waited to happen since round two or three.
However, on Saturday night, September 10th the previously undefeated Brook (36-1, 25 KO’s) thrilled his fellow Brits with his captivating performance at Greenwich, London’s O2 Arena. Brook opened the fight confidently standing within range of Golovkin’s power, flashing the ring generalship that he displayed so well when he earned the respect of many American boxing fans by neutralizing pressure-heavy welterweight Shawn Porter in August of 2014. Things got sketchy in the middle of the first round as a Golovkin left hook staggered Brook, and it seemed as if the British fighter’s strategy was a failed one, but he regrouped and closed out the round with a flurry of his own.
Brook maintained the momentum heading into the second round landing several effective shots to Golovkin’s head that excited O2 crowd. Brook’s class seemed to erase any doubts that he was too small to seriously challenge the Kazakh. Brook scored with enough shots to win the round in large part because Golovkin (36-0, 33 KO’s) continued to load up on wider telegraphed shots that Brook successfully eluded in both the second and third round – not quite as successfully in the latter.
Golovkin did what he was supposed to do according to his typical “good drama show” game plan, he never relented with his stalking of Brook, and he ate his usual amount of touches while trying to land his own bombs. Golovkin and his trainer Abel Sanchez have never subscribed to the sweet science tenet of “hit and not be hit”, and Brook’s early movement and slickness gradually succumbed to the constant pressure and single connects Golovkin managed to land.
That’s the quandary opponents face while attempting to defeat Golovkin. How does one stay sharp defensively over the course of 12 rounds, or outbox him and possibly knock out a fighter that reportedly has yet to visit the canvas?
An even fight or a 3-1 lead in either fighter’s favor was arguable going into the 5th, but Golovkin’s power punches began to arrive in flurries rather than single shots, and it became impossible for Brook to evade everything. Brook’s chin and grit quickly became equally as impressive as Golovkin’s booming shots. Brook’s punching output rapidly decreased, and the warrior in him kept him upright but after watching him continuously slide along the ropes with his guard dropped Brook’s trainer Dominic Ingle climbed onto the ring apron and waved a white towel.
Referee Marlon Wright brought the fight to a halt just a few seconds before the two-minute mark as a surprised Brook lifted his arms in disappointment to suggest he was comfortable with continuing the fight. Golovkin clinched his 17th straight defense of his middleweight crown and pulled within three wins of equaling the weight class’ record set by Bernard Hopkins.
Several fight fans expressed displeasure with Ingle’s stoppage, but later reports confirmed Brook sustained a fractured eye socket at an early point in the fight, and protecting Brook’s long-term health was the prudent decision to make. After the outcome was formally announced both fighter’s praised one another while still trading verbal shots. Brook thought Golovkin would be a bigger puncher. Golovkin confirmed the major reservation the majority of fans held going into the bout as he stated that Brook was not a legitimate middleweight. That definitely was not the sentiment dedicated boxing fans want to hear after putting aside their knowledge – foolishly in retrospect – of the sport to believe that an upset was truly possible. Unfortunately, such suspension of belief is far too commonplace in boxing’s match-making.
The question now becomes whether any true middleweight contenders will step up to the plate to fully exploit the deficiencies some observers believe Brook exposed in Golovkin’s game. The night before, current WBA champion Danny Jacobs (32-1, 29 KO’s) called out Golovkin during his in-ring interview after knocking out journeyman Sergio Mora in the 7th round of their anti-climatic rematch – the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions’ card on SPIKE TV. Jacobs, once knocked out himself by Dmitry Pirog in 2010, has stopped all of the other 14 opponents he’s faced since that same year.
Immediately following Golovkin’s punishing victory over Brook, a pair of British middleweights in Chris Eubanks, Jr. and Billy Joe Saunders sounded off on Twitter with the following tweets, respectively.
@GGGBoxing if you want a fight with a real British Middleweight… come get some. My corner don't own towels. pic.twitter.com/gPJWSqwEDm
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— Chris Eubank Jr (@ChrisEubankJr) September 10, 2016
@GGGBoxing #ready pic.twitter.com/Kk8p9Vw1Vn
— billyjoesaunders (@bjsaunders_) September 11, 2016
Eager fight fans must wait and see what comes of this colorful social media saber-rattling. Until then, Triple G continues his middleweight reign as one of the sport’s marquee attractions.
Toledo, OH’s Robert Easter Jr. Wins IBF Lightweight World Title
Robert Easter Jr. (18-0, 14 KO’s) wrapped up a rare his Toledo, OH based training camp and led his The Bunny Team convoy eastward to Reading, PA’s Santander Arena to battle Ghana’s Richard Commey (24-1, 22 KO’s) this past Friday night. At stake: a pair of unblemished records and Rances Barthelemy’s vacated IBF world lightweight title.
Easter Jr. served notice to the 135-pound division back in April by handing veteran Argenis Mendez his first knock out loss of his career in one of the more impressive debut performances of the Premier Boxing Champions series. Far less was known about the 29-year old Commey, with the exception of his power indicated by his absurd KO percentage of 92% – only one of his first 24 bouts wasn’t held in Europe or his homeland of Africa.
In round one Easter Jr. quickly established his jab and soon after mixed in some shorter combinations, capitalizing on a reach advantage of nearly 7″ that left Commey probing for a way inside to get off his power shots. Overall the bout was a closely contested affair confirmed by the judges’ cards in favor of Easter Jr. 113-114, 115-112 and 114-113 for a split decision victory.
The fight was so close that from rounds three or four on, longtime friend and four-division world champion Adrien Broner could be seen ringside on the telecast, dressed in all white, frantically yelling instructions to Easter Jr. At the fight’s midpoint judges John McKaie and Craig Smith had the fight knotted up at 57-57; in contrast, the third judge Ron McNair had it 59-55 in favor of Easter Jr.
One of the fight’s first decisive moments occurred in round 8 as Commey connected with a right hand that caused Easter Jr. to stumble, and after one of his gloves arced down across the canvas referee Benjy Esteves Jr. stopped the action for the fight’s first 10-count. The replay failed to confirm a knock down.
Easter Jr. responded with a jarring left hook in the 9th round that was offset by a big Commey shot at the very end of the round. In the 12th round, Broner finally saw the aggression and punishment he called for the entire fight as Easter Jr. staggered Commey, sending him into the ropes where the 25-year old Toledo native laced Commey with several power punches. For a moment Commey looked ready to go, but the Ghanaian boxer steadied himself before both fighters put everything on the line, adding in a few more frenzied exchanges until the final bell.
Santander Arena erupted with applause and chants from a sizable Toledo contingent after heard Robert Easter’s name read aloud following the familiar phrase “and a new…” An emotional Easter Jr. celebrated with his corner, Broner and his extended team before sharing a long embrace with his mother through the bottom ropes. With a major personal goal achieved by the committed, hardworking Toledo son, Easter Jr. exited the ring and made his way to his dressing room with a belt in his possession that makes it all official.
Commey, experiencing defeat for the first time a long way from home with a just small group of supporters, exhibited the effort fight fans have grown accustomed to from fighters that hail from Ghana, and its likely he’ll be heard from again before the end of 2016.
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