By Carlos Toro
In a surprising twist to answer the question of who is Gennady Golovkin's (35-0, 32 KOs) next opponent, it was announced that he will fight IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) on Sept. 10. Golovkin, a unified middleweight titleholder, will defend his belts against Brook at the O2 Arena in London.
Many in the boxing world were surprised at the announcement as it was initially thought that Golovkin would end up fighting middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. Golovkin, one of the biggest names in boxing now, has built up streaks of 22 straight knockouts and 16 consecutive title defenses.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn was also in the process of finalizing a deal with Top Rank for a welterweight unification fight between Brook and Jessie Vargas, so this was a weird turnout for all parties involved.
Also Read: GGG Insinuates Chris Eubank Jr. Won't Sign Their Contract, Eubank Responds
The Brook-Vargas deal became difficult to finalize because, according to Top Rank, Hearn wanted to reduce the money he was going to pay Top Rank by 20 percent after the recent steep devaluation of the British pound.
“I cannot tell you how excited I am for this megafight," Hearn said. "I've worked hard with Tom over the years to bring GGG to the U.K. Right here you have the No. 1 welterweight in the world against the No. 1 middleweight in the world -- 36-0 versus 35-0, two of the best on the planet. It's what big-time boxing is all about.”
It may not be the GGG vs. Canelo fight that everyone wants, but Brook should provide a worthy enough of a challenge in the meantime. Brook said that he has no issues with moving up to weight classes. It’s a win-win situation for him. If he wins, he gets possibly the biggest payday and win of his career along with titles in two weight classes. If he loses, he is still the welterweight champion.
This fight will be the main event in an HBO card shown in the U.S. and on Sky Box Office pay-per-view in the United Kingdom. Despite the big differences in weight between the two, there will be no catchweight in this bout.
