On Saturday, September 10, at London’s O2 Arena, WBA/WBC/IBF/IBO middleweight champion Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs), the undefeated knockout artist from Karaganda, Kazakhstan, will defend three of his four belts against IBF welterweight champion Kell “Special K” Brook (36-0, 25 KOs), from Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom, in what will likely be the toughest fight of both men’s careers.
The WBA Super World middleweight title will not be at stake.
When the fight was announced in July, WBA president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza said, “The Championships Committee and the Presidency have not agreed to sanction this bout as a title fight because Brook has never fought as a middleweight.”
Mendoza added, for the sake of clarification, “The intent of the organization is to try to protect the integrity and health of the fighters.”
A good big man beats a good small man 99 percent of the time. Upsets happen, but few have picked Brook to beat Golovkin.
“We do not oppose the fight, per se,” continued Mendoza. “But the rules of the organization stipulate that Golovkin and/or his representatives must request special permission in advance to fight Brook. Under the circumstances, if Golovkin were to lose to Kell Brook, the title would become vacant and would not end up in the hands of the British pugilist.”
That permission for Triple G to fight Special K has been granted. The WBA Championships Committee decided, by a single vote, to approve a special permit for the two men to get it on.
But the WBA middleweight belt will not be at stake.
“What I most regret,” said Mendoza, “is that there are no boxers at 160 pounds who have the will to fight against ‘Triple G,’ and Brook has to climb two divisions to fight against him.”
That is a regret we share.
Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, disagreed with the ruling. “Somehow the WBA thought it was too dangerous for a welterweight to move up to middleweight to fight the biggest puncher in boxing,” he said. “I guess that is a compliment to Triple G as they sanctioned Broner moving up two divisions to fight Paulie and Roy Jones moving up two divisions to fight John Ruiz for WBA titles, and Kell Brook is undefeated and considered a top pound-for-pound boxer.”
That may be, but Malignaggi never posed a threat to Broner, any more than Ruiz posed a threat to Roy Jones.
Golovkin vs. Brook is another story.
Brook is a welterweight fighting at 160 for the first time. He is moving up two divisions. He has packed on the pounds, at last check Brook outweighed Golovkin 167.8 to 162.9 pounds, but does that mean he’s the real deal?
Does it mean he’s a real middleweight?
We’ll know the answer a week from now.
This article was penned by the author who is not related to the WBA and the statements, expressions or opinions referenced herein are that of the author alone and not the WBA.
