Golovkin vs Brook: Kell Brook releases new training photos
Friday 2 September 2016 16:00, UK
Kell Brook is training to do what many believe impossible on September 10 but as his latest training photos show, he looks the part.
'The Special One' (36-0-KO25) is fast closing in on the fight of his life - a meeting with WBA 'Super', WBC and IBF world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (35-0-KO32) at The O2 on September 10, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Eyebrows were raised to the roof when Brook pounced on the wreckage of talks between the Kazakh and Chris Eubank Jr to secure by far his most daunting test to date, climbing two divisions to take on a man rated among boxing's pound-for-pound greats.
It's difficult to find visual fault with how his body is wearing the extra weight, though.
When Amir Khan stripped off to weigh-in for his clash with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, there seemed a solidity missing. That he was prepared to put on the weight and climb through the ropes of the 160lb-division regardless is testament to his bravery. Brook, you feel, has done this more naturally.
He'll hear the opening bell as a heavy bookmakers' underdog and of course he's a world welterweight champion facing a man with freakish power for a middleweight but at this stage, mission impossible looks very much a case of 'so far, so good.'
Brook gives away just over an inch in height and an inch in reach, but where before he looked gaunt in the face and skeletal around the ribcage making 147lbs, he now looks sturdy and full of nourishment and smiles.
Now 30 years of age, Brook will have stopped growing. He's always had a wide, block-like frame and rather than being rangy, he has carved out an undefeated title-winning career by virtue of superb upper-body movement defensively and the natural timing of his own shots.
He's not as fleet of foot as Khan but that is partly due to being more thickly-built. Where Khan's game plan against Canelo relied purely on boxing, Brook may wish to do some fighting at some stage. Given that Golovkin's footwork in cutting off the ring is underrated, there are times he will have little choice but to engage.
Golovkin's underrated boxing skills, undoubted power and accuracy are things any man will have a hard time subduing, but those who have said this fight is a foregone conclusion on the basis of Brook "being a welterweight" may wish to take a second look at his fuller physique.
It might suit him better.
Watch Gennady Golovkin v Kell Brook, live on Sky Sports Box Office from The O2, September 10. Book the event online here.
