Yesterday, the boxing
world went into meltdown after it was announced that knock-out sensation,
Gennady Golovkin, would defend his middleweight titles against IBF welterweight
champion, Kell Brook. For Brook, this is a chance for him to showcase his
immense talent against one of the worlds very best. For Golovkin, many have
questioned his reasons for fighting a welterweight claiming that he is now no
better than Canelo.
What is clear is that
the boxing world seems divided at the moment. Fans are either defending
Golovkin or attacking him vehemently. This article will take a look at the
reasons for this fight coming about and make a judgement on whether Golovkin
can be blamed for taking the Brook fight when it was offered to him.
Firstly, it is
important to look at the reasons as to why the best middleweight in the world
has chosen to fight a welterweight in Kell Brook. Back in 2013/4, lineal and
WBC champion, Sergio Martinez chose to avoid the Kazakhstani and instead fought
Miguel Cotto, who he lost to. The same thing happened with Cotto who, instead
of fighting Golovkin, fought Canelo in 2015 whom he lost to.
Where Golovkin can be
blamed in this situation is that he accepted step-aside money as mandatory
challenger for the WBC title from both Martinez and Cotto, instead of forcing
them to either fight him or being stripped of their belt. Canelo then did
blatantly duck Golovkin which is why they are not fighting in September.
If one looks at the
Ring Magazine top 7 fighters everyone single one of them has ducked Golovkin in
the past two years, except for Andy Lee who is coming off a loss, and David
Lemieux who was KO’d by Golovkin back in 2015. These fighters deserve to be
named and shamed and they are: Canelo, Billy Joe Saunders, Peter Quillin,
Daniel Jacobs and most recently, Chris Eubank Jr.
The light-middleweight
division is no better, with the likes of Erislandy Lara and Demetrius Andrade
constantly attempting to give off the impression they want the fight, but it is
clear that they want nothing to do with most avoided fighter on the planet.
This leaves Golovkin in
an impossible position where no-one wants to fight him. Some argue that he
should move up in weight but 168 lb is a wasteland where DeGale and Jack, the
best in the division already are busy sorting out a unification fight towards
the end of the year.
Eubank Jr., the latest
in an ever growing list of fighters, has priced himself out of the fight with
ridiculous demands being made to Eddie Hearn over ticket prices and sponsorship
for the show. This is why the Brook fight has been made as there is simply no-one else that is willing to face
Golovkin at 160 or 154 at this moment in time.
It is not like the
Canelo-Khan situation where Canelo hand-picked Khan to move up to 155 lb.
Golovkin has no other options so his hand has been forced for a variety of
reasons, as mentioned above. Do not get me wrong for one moment; the Brook
fight is a horrible one where it is likely that Brook will be iced within six
rounds however there are very little options that Golovkin has.
There is no point in
waiting for fighters who are willing to avoid him like the plague. The only
fighter who has shown a willing to face him is unbeaten American, Andre Ward,
but that moment has sadly passed as Ward is now at light-heavyweight. However
this could be his only option of a big fight come 2017.
Here is a list of all
the world champions who have avoided Golovkin at some point in their careers:
Darren Barker
Felix Sturm
Sergio Martinez
Peter Quillin
Julio Caesar Chavez Jr.
Carl Froch
Miguel Cotto
Canelo Alvarez
Billy Joe Saunders
Daniel Jacobs
Tom Eckett
@boxingguru44
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