The 30 year-old moves up 13 pounds to challenge the formidable and seemingly unbeatable Gennady Golovkin at London’s O2 Arena and has been participating in a meticulous training regime to prepare for the clash.
At 30 days out, Brook scaled a staggering 176 pounds, almost thirty pounds above his usual limit and has been steadily cutting weight since then in order to be in the best physical condition for the hard-hitting Kazakh. Last week, Brook was around 168 pounds in preparation for the WBC seven-day check.
In comparison when competing at 147 pounds, Brook struggled massively to hit the pre-fight target and always looked gaunt, frail and frustrated as ‘The Special One’ hit the scales the day before a contest.
Pictures by Matchroom Boxing / Lawrence Lustig
Non-title encounters have usually been negotiated above the welterweight limit in order to give Brook a small amount of leeway with his weight but facing Golovkin has given him the freedom to fill out and it shows.
A recent photo shoot with Matchroom Boxing (above) had jaws dropping as Brook looked in magnificent shape and even Gennady Golovkin admitted in an interview with Sky Sports that he’s facing his biggest challenge on Saturday night.
The big question is whether Brook can take all his main assets with him to the middleweight limit and cope with not being an imposing presence to the man standing in the other corner. On previous fight nights, Brook would hold a physical advantage over fighters at the lower limit, although Golovkin will be fresh, fully hydrated and at his natural weight.
Many believe Brook is actually a natural middleweight, so it will be interesting to see if that’s the case when the fight unfolds in a few days time.
