It’s no secret both fighters have pined for bigger challenges than they’ve been able to nail down, but Golovkin and Brook now do battle to potentially be recognized as the planet’s number one.
Golovkin, 34, has rattled his way through the 160 pound division – destroying all in his path, and knows an early finish of Brook is key to further enhancing his already fearsome reputation. Only a dominant and hurtful win by ‘GGG’ is enough to push Roman Gonzalez for the top spot due to bookmakers heralding the hard-hitting Kazakh as such an overwhelming favourite.
For Brook, the task is much more difficult but a whole lot more rewarding. The Yorkshireman knows full well a win moves him stratospherically up the pound for pound ratings and close to the best around, whilst certainly into British boxing folklore.
A knockout of Golovkin this weekend and Brook would potentially be on the cusp of the likes of Sergey Kovalev, Andre Ward, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Terence Crawford, Manny Pacquiao and the rest and maybe just one further victory away from taking the P4P crown.
‘The Special One’ would be foolish to drop back down in weight should he be able to withstand the Golovkin barrage that’s sure to come his way and could immediately push himself into an all-British unification clash with Billy Joe Saunders.
A fight between Golovkin and Canelo is the one everyone wants to see at the moment, although Brook has the opportunity to put a spanner in the works and disrupt big plans for a massive HBO extravaganza in 2017.
Many are questioning whether Brook can bridge that 13-pound gap at the O2 Arena on Saturday night as a first defeat lays on the horizon for either one of the current world champions.
