Tuesday 16 August 2016 16:17, UK
Kell Brook has made the audacious decision to fight Gennady Golovkin - but why?
The IBF welterweight champion from Sheffield will jump up two weight divisions and 13lbs to challenge for the world's top pound-for-pound fighter's WBA Super, WBC and IBF middleweight gold on Sky Sports Box Office.
The September 10 fight is a risky move by Brook, who was expected to meet fellow welterweight champion Jessie Vargas in his next fight, so we have weighed up the pros and cons of fighting Golovkin.
The opportunity to trump his perennial rival Amir Khan will enable Brook to puff out his chest as he considers his newly-announced fight. Khan, of course, emerged with great credit despite a violent defeat at the hands of Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez due to his gutsy decision to jump up two weight divisions in pursuit of a big-punching world champion.
Brook will now make a far steeper jump. Khan-Canelo was actually at a 155lbs catchweight and the Mexican's concerns with meeting Golovkin at the true middleweight limit have been well-documented. Brook, eschewing any such fear, will leap into the 160lbs lion's den in a manoeuvre braver than Khan's.
Canelo, it should be remembered, had been beaten by Floyd Mayweather and the optimism was that Khan's skill-set could replicate that result. There is still no answer to Golovkin's path of destruction meaning Brook is walking an untrodden path into a more complex fight. Brook v Golovkin is a clear attempt to usurp Khan's brave efforts against Canelo. Until a fight finally materialises, that will be the sweetest blow Brook can land on Khan.
The Kazakh king's perfect run of 35 wins sees him sitting peerlessly as the world's top pound-for-pound fighter. After a generation owned by Mayweather, Golovkin is the attack-minded antidote who nobody can beat. More than just a ploy to irritate Khan, Brook's decision to fight Golovkin is a bid to dethrone the No 1 fighter in the sport.
The opportunity to rip away the gleaming array of belts that adorn Golovkin's waist also exists for Brook. He would become a two-weight world champion with a full 13lbs separating the two divisions that he would rule.
What if Brook wins? He would own a 37-0 unbeaten record, better than Golovkin's, with a substantially better marquee win than anyone that the Kazakh has beaten. World titles at welterweight and middleweight, having defeated unbeaten champions to take control of each division, could catapult Brook into the pound-for-pound position that Golovkin currently owns.
The danger of getting knocked out is not simply that it ends a fight. The type of punches that Golovkin deliver can shorten careers and change lives. Iron chins never last forever, and Golovkin is the type of opponent whose victims never fully recover from losing to him.
The force of his knockouts will change the way a boxer reacts to future punches. The confidence built up from years inside the gym to stand toe-to-toe can evaporate after absorbing what he has to offer. Fighting Golovkin, simply put, is a risk to progressing a career beyond him.
Was Khan ever the same after his knockout defeats? Breidis Prescott raised questions about his defence that may have convinced Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia his chin was worth pursuing. Brook has no such doubts lingering above his head but losing to boxing's foremost knockout artist could affect how future opponents view him.
Brook's bank balance can't lose regardless of the result on September 10, but he would be wise to count his coins for a rainy day. He stands to lose the opportunity to enter any future big-fight negotiations as the man in demand.
There is a battered and bruised pile of Golovkin's 35 fallen opponents ready to welcome Brook into their growing club but Britain's world welterweight champion has faith that the risk is worth the reward.
Brook will fight Golovkin at The O2 Arena on September 10, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
