Kell Brook believes the fear of facing the most formidable puncher in boxing will make him so switched on he will “shock the world” by inflicting the first professional defeat on the WBA, WBC and IBF and world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin on Saturday night.
The 30-year-old from Sheffield insists he is not fazed by the prospect of stepping up two weight divisions to challenge Golovkin, who has knocked out 32 of his 35 professional opponents, because this time he has not had to starve himself to shed four stone to make the 10st 7lb welterweight limit.
Brook, who holds the IBF welterweight belt, looked relaxed as he said: “You are going to see me at my peak. Before I have fought 60-70%, but this time I will be at 100%. There is some fear with me in this fight but it is going to make me so sharp and switched on.”
He also dismissed suggestions that moving up 13lb to take on many people’s idea of the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world was tantamount to a suicide mission. “Everyone in boxing knows that I am a big guy,” he said. “People who don’t know think that the weight is going to be an issue. I’m more vicious in sparring when I am around 160lb or coming down from heavier than that. I’m ready to rip the title away from Golovkin. It’s going to be a very hard fight but I’ve prepared myself mentally and physically.”
Meanwhile Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn suggested his man was the calmer of the two boxers in the buildup, before predicting an upset was on the cards. “I’m nervous for Kell, but seeing him at this stage, Gennady Golovkin is more nervous about this fight,” he said. “Kell was the same when he fought Shawn Porter. I’ve never seen a kid more relaxed in the dressing room before a world title fight, in a territory he’s never been in before with a commission he’s never boxed with before.
“He’s not the full ticket. That’s the only way you can describe Kell. He’s got no fear in him. He knows the dangers of the fight but he is buzzing. He’s just so happy he’s going to get a chance to show what he can do. I know this is a huge challenge, but I don’t think this fight is going to play out the way people are scripting it.”
Hearn added: “But the thing is it’s Gennady Golovkin – if you walk him down, you have to have a trade-off with him. If you box off the back foot, his feet are sensational, he will cut you off and back you up on to the ropes. But I think Kell’s a genius. I just think he’s going to figure out a way to beat him.”
Brook has been working closely with dieticians to get himself in the best possible shape for the fight, but Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez was dismissive of how effective that approach would be, warning: “On Saturday Kell Brook will find that it will take more than a 10-week scientific experience to topple GGG.”
Hearn suggested that Golovkin, who left the press conference early to return to his hotel, “looked a little bit drawn in the face”. But Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler insisted that he was merely tired. “He’s OK – but with the time difference, travelling and the traffic he just wanted to head back to the hotel,” he added. “There’s certainly no medical problems, he was just tired. He just wanted to get back and rest. He’s got the weigh in on Friday and he wants to get into fight mode.”
Meanwhile Golovkin’s trainer, Abel Sanchez, dismissed Brook’s claims that he had used university professors and dieticians to get himself in the best possible shape for tomorrow’s fight, saying that he would “brutally discover it takes more than a 10-week science experiment to topple Gennady Golovkin”.
