*** The Official Boxing/UFC/MMA thread ***

[Grays_1890]

Completely disagree tbh. He struggles to make welterweight and will probably be just off GGG come fight night as they have a saturday check weight. Its a winnable fight in my eyes for Brook, Golovkin as talented as he undoubtedly is has not really fought anybody of an elite level and certainly not an unbeaten champion who will be carrying plenty of power to throw back.

Brook does not need the fight though in my eyes, there are huge fights out there still and based on O2 tickets and PPV he could and in my opinion should look at Turman and Garcia and secure a legacy before the pay day. If he goes up two weights and gets steamed he will not boil back down to Welter the same boxer, its just not going to happen. It is in my opinion the wrong way round in doing things.

 

[P.D.]

Neither of those want to fight him though, he could have gone for someone like Bradley instead and I'm sure Vargas would have wilted eventually. I think he'd find it easier to get a bigger fight if he went over to the US.

 

[Libero]

Brook does not need the fight though in my eyes, there are huge fights out there still and based on O2 tickets and PPV he could and in my opinion should look at Turman and Garcia and secure a legacy before the pay day. If he goes up two weights and gets steamed he will not boil back down to Welter the same boxer, its just not going to happen. It is in my opinion the wrong way round in doing things.

It isn't just about the money though although that is obviously a big factor. The fact he is a really a junior middleweight means it is only a slight step up in weight. It has been said that actually come fight night Golovkin will only be 2-3 pounds heavier given Brook' natural weight between fights and is apparently heavier than Golovkin as we speak. Bob Arum has even said he understands why Brook has gone for this fight instead of going with Vargas given the bigger finances available.

The glory is there for him to grab on this with 4 belts in the mix and even if he gets beat I don't see really what he loses considering he keeps his IBF at welterweight and can come back down if he wants to. I think people comparing this to Khan-Canelo is nonsense really. Khan started out as and is naturally, a lightweight fighter so he has essentially gone up 4 weight classes to fight Canelo and has only fought at welterweight for the last 2 years. Brook will be going up only 1 weight class in reality given that his between fight weight is over 160Ib. Of course the jump even though small does leave him at a disadvantage but its just not in the same ballpark as Khan-Canelo in terms of the level of disadvantage.

 

[Libero]

Saw a little of Terence Crawford in his unification light welterweight bout against Viktor Postol and he looked pretty good. Now WBC/WBO/The Ring and lineal light welterweight champion. Looks to be one of P4P best fighters around although other than Ricky Burns, he hasn't fought anyone of real stature but he certainly looks capable of being around for a while although other than a rematch with Burns to tyr and claim 3 of the 4 belts, doesn't look to be too many fights at 140Ib for him.

 

[clownfoot]

Saw a little of Terence Crawford in his unification light welterweight bout against Viktor Postol and he looked pretty good. Now WBC/WBO/The Ring and lineal light welterweight champion. Looks to be one of P4P best fighters around although other than Ricky Burns, he hasn't fought anyone of real stature but he certainly looks capable of being around for a while although other than a rematch with Burns to tyr and claim 3 of the 4 belts, doesn't look to be too many fights at 140Ib for him.

Haven't seen the fight myself but read it was fairly one sided. All the talk is Pacquiao is returning to face Crawford on November 5th

 

[Libero]

So with the fight of the year coming up this weekend, what are peoples thoughts?

I am going to stick my neck out and go with a points win for Brook. Just have this feeling that the weight issue isn't as it would normally be and this is going to be the first really world class fighter that Golovkin has fought.

 

[P.D.]

Fight of the year is a bit statement before it's happened, Ward V Kovalev could certainly be a contender.

It will be interesting, not seen too much of Brook actually and could argue bar one fight that he hasn't really fought anyone of note but he does have huge punching power, not sure how technical he is though and his defence hasn't been tested much so far.

 

[Libero]

Fight of the year is a bit statement before it's happened, Ward V Kovalev could certainly be a contender.

It will be interesting, not seen too much of Brook actually and could argue bar one fight that he hasn't really fought anyone of note but he does have huge punching power, not sure how technical he is though and his defence hasn't been tested much so far.

I don't think it is a inaccurate description, it sold out in 11 minutes and will definitely be more of a spectacle than Ward-Kovalev owing to how the former manages his fights despite how good he is.

Brook in fairness is much in the same boat as Golovkin with regards stern tests actually and it will be new territory for both of them in terms of level of opponent.

 

[P.D.]

Hype makes a good pre fight only, see Pac v Floyd for the best example of this. Thurman V Porter is already a strong contended. I'm hyped for this fight, don't get me wrong but bit early to call it fight of the year. Kovalev may take Ward out of his comfort zone. Crolla V Linares could be good as well.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Hype makes a good pre fight only, see Pac v Floyd for the best example of this. Thurman V Porter is already a strong contended. I'm hyped for this fight, don't get me wrong but bit early to call it fight of the year. Kovalev may take Ward out of his comfort zone. Crolla V Linares could be good as well.

Vargas vs. Salido is by far the fight of the year thus far IMO, I'll be very surprised if any of the upcoming scheduled fights this year tops that one.

 

[Libero]

I thought Santa Cruz-Martinez was a very good fight despite being one sided in a different way to Vargas-Salido but they don't have that pull that something like Brook-GGG has. I really think for once that a highly anticipated match up will throw up a cracking fight.

I agree hype rarely brings good fights but the Pac-Mayweather fight is a poor example to use purely because anyone who has watched Mayweather knows his style is not at all entertaining but the pleasure is more in the appreciation of how stunning a technician he is.

Kovalev-Ward will be a good match up but again Ward is someone that doesn't necessarily entertain but is just a fine exponent of not being hit which is of course the name of the game but doesn't always allow for a watch-able fight. Linares-Crolla will be a fantastic bout imo, I was very impressed with Linares against Mitchell where he came back and won very indeed after a knockdown and Crolla is very durable so that could be a big contender for fight of the year.

 

[clownfoot]

GGG in the 5th.

Brook has fought 1 world class opponent and Golovkin has faced none.

I really liked Golovkin but he is going about things poorly for me. Him v Canelo will happen next year, but all his camp coming out saying people are scared is getting tedious. Ward offered him a fight but he declined and now his trainer is saying Ward won't come down to 168 to face GGG.

GGG needs to go up in weight to be considered a great.

 

[P.D.]

@clownfoot wins, good prediction.

I thought it was a good watch. Although he got beaten for me you can see that Brook is a pretty skilful boxer with good movement, reflexes and decent punching power. I know GGG said the punches didn't hurt but from the replays you can tell that Brook was causing some damage. Obviously GGG has some serious power and broke his eye socket but if he didn't then would have enjoyed seeing a few more rounds of it. Think GGG would have won regardless as that's his natural weight.

Reglardless massive respect to Brook, everyone else has ducked him. Think Hearn has a lot to answer for though, not sure he always acts in the best interests of his fighters.

I think GGG really needs to go up a weight to cement his legacy, see how he can handle naturally bigger buys who can resist his power and push him on the back foot. Him v De Gale for instance would be good. I can't see BJS doing much against him and it won't do much good for GGG either, he's already undisputed champion at this weights. BJS ducked him before anyway.

 

[Grays_1890]

Hearn is far from the savior of boxing he is made out to be in my opinion.

Brook taking a two weight hike to fight GGG at this point in his career is bad advice. He is a prime boxer at his weight and should have looked to unify before taking this kind of fight.

Such a bad bad move

I said this months ago.

Brook was persuaded to go up two weights to get his face broken, its a disgrace really.

Brook gave up status at Welterweight to put on a stone, so he now has to boil back down to pick up good fights at that level which is doubtful or hit the weight inbetween and start from scratch.

I stand by

 

[Libero]

Still disagree Grays_1890. Yes he has a broken eye socket but he is the fighter being talked about now despite having lost. He will be in demand in the Jnr Middleweight division for match ups as a result of this bout and he has the ability to win a world title at that weight. I don't see any chance of him going back down to Welterweight as he was already struggling badly to make that weight. That is confirmed as fact by people who are closest to him and experts at what they do so to me it was never as black and white as saying he jumped two weight classes.

I thought he boxed a good fight and was obviously hindered in rounds 4-5 by the sight issue which caused him to take more punishment than he had. The pace was fairly frenetic and I think without the injury that Brook probably would have lasted another 3-4 rounds before running out of steam. He definitely put up a better show than most Middleweights have thus far and showed that actually if you have the power then GGG is very easy to actually hit. I think Billy Joe Saunders would give him a pretty good fight but agree that ultimately GGG has to go up to Super Middleweight in order to really prove his class.

 

[Grays_1890]

Brook was high profile enough to get this fight and he believe he had great options at Welterweight but did a typical Hearn move, go quick to get the big fight regardless, there is no legacy building with Hearn.

As a non belt holding champion at Jnr what do you see as his next fight?

 

[Libero]

Brook was high profile enough to get this fight and he believe he had great options at Welterweight but did a typical Hearn move, go quick to get the big fight regardless, there is no legacy building with Hearn.

As a non belt holding champion at Jnr what do you see as his next fight?

I think that is a pretty unfair description relating to Hearn. Who wanted to fight Brook at Welterweight specifically in the time frame that was available? Vargas? I don't see that as a fight that really builds his legacy tbh. Yes it would have been a unification bout but it wouldn't have had any pull and would imo been a fight that would have been classed with the rest of his defences post Porter.

As a non belt holding champion at Jnr Middle I would say he has a few options and he is a carrot enough for people at that weight to feel he is a risk worth enough in fighting. Obviously a potential domesitc bought against Liam Smith should he beat Canelo, Canelo himself, Cotto too. Charlo and Lara are likely to be out of the question given that he would have to be further up the 154 rankings but Canelo and Cotto aren't out of the question and they are fights that would bring prestige and money whilst giving him a ranking spot at 154.

 

[P.D.]

I don't see why he couldn't fight the twins now, more they may want to hold onto their belts longer and see how they progress but you don't have to be ranked to challenge for one (though maybe the board wouldn't sanction it). I think Cotto would be a great fight or Trout just to settle into the weight and warm up for a bigger fight.

 

[Grays_1890]

I think that is a pretty unfair description relating to Hearn. Who wanted to fight Brook at Welterweight specifically in the time frame that was available? Vargas? I don't see that as a fight that really builds his legacy tbh. Yes it would have been a unification bout but it wouldn't have had any pull and would imo been a fight that would have been classed with the rest of his defences post Porter.

I think its pretty fair to be honest. Look at someone outside the Hearn camp in Frampton, does his own thing and builds his own legacy at his weight, unifying the belts like all good champions do and then worries about the riches after, which are now starting to come.

Hearn has a record of chucking fighters into one off high risk bouts and for me and I stand by it, Brook had some unfinished business at Welterweight and those that say he wouldn't make the weight also claimed he could go back down should he lose against GGG, so you can't have it both ways.

I think people are mixing up boxing legacy and money, the two are separate.

Mark my words, GGG will fight in the UK at least two more times in the coming year, maybe three times, that will show that Brook was put up as leverage so that Hearn could dip his fingers into the GGG pie and make more money....

 

[P.D.]

Who else has Hearn chucked in at the deep end in your opinion then? He does seem to love the attention, seems to enjoy being in the ring a bit too much. I also think he's got some good fights for others like De Gale, Crolla, Selby etc. People said it was too soon for Joshua but he convincingly won the world title.