Kell Brook Falls Short as Golovkin Earns Stoppage in Fifth Round | FIGHTLAND

Photo via Kell Brook/facebook

Kell “The Special One” Brook’s audacious bid to jump up two weight divisions and dethrone fearsome middleweight king Gennady “GGG” Golovkin was cut short as he was stopped in the fifth round in London’s O2 Arena.

Golovkin was throwing with power from the very get go—even his jabs seemed to have the ability to cause some serious whiplash with Brook’s head snapping back upon impact. GGG managed to land a few hurtful hooks in the opening round. But, Brook did well to weather the early storm and managed to fire back with a few potent shots before the bell.

The second stanza had the capacity crowd excited. Despite Golovkin’s aggression in the early stages of the round, Brook managed to land some stinging shots to whip those in attendance into a frenzy. However, Brook incurred some damage to his right eye in that round which ultimately told later in the fight. In the third round, Brook’s eye was already close to closing but it didn’t stop him from trying to attack his Kazakhstani foe with some quick combinations.

The fourth was much of the same as Golovkin relentlessly stalked Brook—taking plenty of quick punches in order for his own to land. But, by this point, you could tell the tide was turning on Brook. The fifth round confirmed this notion—Golovkin landed a number of powerful punches which left Brook reeling against the ropes. Brook’s trainer Dominic Ingle felt obliged to throw in the towel to prevent his man from taking further punishment.

Brook, who is a natural welterweight and owns the IBF world championship in that weight class, bravely took on the man feared by his middleweight peers and gave as good as he got. Both men were unbeaten before Saturday evening, so this signalled Brook’s first defeat in his 37^th professional fight. Golovkin remains unbeaten in 36 fights and pushes his unrivalled run of consecutive knockout victories to 23. This also means no boxer has managed to jump straight from welterweight to become a middleweight champion since the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Emile Griffith, who achieved this 50 years ago back in 1966.

Sheffield-born Brook earned plenty of plaudits for his efforts and the toughness he displayed on Saturday night—even from living heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield. That impressive durability was evident after the fact as it turned out Brook had suffered a broken eye socket in the second round and was suffering from blurred vision from then onwards. “I was frustrating him. I was starting to settle in to it. But, when you three four, five of him, it’s difficult,” The Special One said following the fight.

According to Twitter, Brook will have to undergo surgery to mend the broken eye socket sustained against Golovkin. A section of fans in the arena may have booed Ingle’s decision to throw in the towel, but his actions have been more than vindicated.

British heavyweight David Haye fully backed Ingle’s move, telling BBC 5 Live: "That stoppage was absolutely spot on. You've got to realise, Kell Brook is a current welterweight champion—he had no business taking that onslaught on the ropes.

"I'm so happy Dominic Ingle did that and didn't watch his fighter get drilled to the canvas, because give it six months and he's back in the ring, he's still earning money for his family, he's still defending his welterweight title. Great bit of corner work by Dominic Ingle—the best I've seen for a very long time."

So what’s next for both men? With the big-money fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez looking more distant than ever with the Mexican actively dodging his former mandatory challenger, Golovkin has confirmed his interest in unifying the middleweight division by taking on another Brit in Billy Joe Saunders for his WBO strap. There are few suitors willing to take on GGG, as evidenced by a welterweight stepping up two weight classes on Saturday night. But, according to The Guardian, Saunders is more than up for the challenge: “I am ready for the fight. I’m going to fight on October 29 but then I will be set to face him.

“Whatever date Golovkin wants to do I will be ready. He is a great champion but I have seen enough mistakes that I know I can expose when we fight. I know I am the fight he wants but he should know that I’m a fully-fledged middleweight and Kell Brook is a welterweight. There is no welterweight here.”

As for Brook, his gutsy, albeit unsuccessful, performance against Golovkin has opened multiple avenues for big-name fights in the near future according to his promoter Eddie Hearn. Talking to BBC 5 Live, Hearn said: "He is still world champion at welterweight. It's going to be difficult for him to go back to 147lbs but in terms of worldwide stock, I think Kell's rose considerably.

"[US TV network] HBO asked me if I would do the re-match with Golovkin but I can see him [Brook] returning to light-middleweight, there are some huge fights out there for him. There is the Canelo [Alvarez] fight, the Amir Khan fight should have happened a dozen times and hasn't. They don't like each other and as a promoter there is nothing better in a build-up than two fighters that don't particularly like each other.”

Despite the end result, Brook has right to be proud of his display against the world’s least desirable man to fight. But, with talk of HBO’s growing interest in Brook as result of his gutsy display, it would appear he has won more fans in defeat than he ever has in victory—even in winning his IBF belt.

One thing remains very clear, though—Golovkin remains one of the most devastating punchers the middleweight division has ever seen. It’s no wonder why so few want to take him on.

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