by Cliff Rold

The weekend in boxing got off to a hell of a start Friday night. Lightweights Robert Easter and Richard Commey reminded us how special it can be when two undefeated fighters show up to keep their “0.” Saturday, across two HBO telecasts, we will see four more fighters who haven’t learned how to lose yet.

Two of them are going to learn.

Someone set to wager might place money on HBO’s later show (10 PM EST) producing the superior main event. At 115 lbs., a division that has lacked for big fights since Vic Darchinyan left the class, lineal flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez moves into his fourth weight class to challenge Carlos Cuadras. Cuadras has brought a dash of bravado to the proceedings and seems confident. Gonzalez remains as stoic as ever. Their contest should be fast paced and Cuadras, though the underdog, is live.

Earlier in the day (5:30 PM EST), we’ll find out just how legitimate the showdown between multi-belted middleweight Gennady Golovkin and welterweight titlist Kell Brook really is. There are camps that think this could be a compelling affair. Others see this as little better than the over-at-signing farce earlier this year between Canelo Alvarez and Amir Khan.

The fact is no one can really be sure of what they are getting here.

Brook has never shown the soft chin of Khan but he also hasn’t faced any great depth or variety of the contenders in his own class. Brook’s resume currently stands at an excellent win over Shawn Porter and a collection of solid but unspectacular working professionals. We’ve never really found out how good he is at welterweight.

It hampers enthusiasm for this match.

Now he’ll jump two divisions and face the most formidable middleweight since Bernard Hopkins’ prime more than a decade ago. Can Brook, on his home turf, make this a brilliant coming out party and turn boxing on its ear?

Or is this just another in a years long line of Golovkin showcase fights, continuing his dominance of a middleweight era lacking in both depth and compelling challenges?    

Let’s go to the report cards.

The Ledgers

Gennady Golovkin

Age: 34

Title: WBA Middleweight (2010-Present, 16 Defenses); WBC Middleweight (2014-Present, 4 Defenses); IBF Middleweight (2015-Present, 1 Defense); IBO Middleweight (2010-Present, 16 Defenses)

Previous Titles: None

Height: 5’10 ½

Weight: 159 lbs.

Hails from: Los Angeles, California (Hails from Kazakhstan)?

Record: 35-0, 32 KO

Rankings: #1 (BoxingScene, TBRB, Ring, Boxing Monthly, BoxRec), #2 (ESPN)

Record in Major Title Fights: 16-0, 16 KO (17-0, 17 KO including interim title fights)

Current/Former World Champions Faced: 3 (Kasim Ouma TKO10, Daniel Geale TKO3; David Lemieux TKO8)

Vs.

Kell Brook

Age: 30

Title: IBF Welterweight (2014-Present, 3 Defenses)

Previous Titles: None

Height: 5’9

Weight: 159.5 lbs.

Hails from: Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Record: 36-0, 25 KO

Rankings: #1 (BoxingScene, TBRB, Ring, Boxing Monthly), #2 (ESPN), #3 (BoxRec)

Record in Major Title Fights: 4-0, 3 KO

Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 2 (Lovemore N’Dou UD12; Vyacheslav Senchenko TKO4; Shawn Porter MD12)

Grades

Pre-Fight: Speed – Golovkin B; Brook B

Pre-Fight: Power – Golovkin A+; Brook B

Pre-Fight: Defense – Golovkin B; Brook B

Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Golovkin A; Brook B+

Size shouldn’t be the deciding factor here. It was true in the middleweight title fight between Alvarez and Khan and it’s true here. Golovkin isn’t remarkably bigger than Brook, despite the move up in weight for the UK product. That doesn’t mean size is no factor at all.

Look closely at Brook’s record and it’s hard to find anyone who approaches the sort of power Golovkin carries. It’s hard to find a ton of big time power in general. Brook’s best wins have come against fighters who aren’t devastating punchers. He’s tackling an elite power puncher for the first time and it’s going to come in the form of a man who is at least a division bigger than anyone he’s seen so far as a pro.

What can Brook do to offset that? Brook has smart feet and an educated jab. He does a good job of changing speeds on his punches. If he can establish his jab, and keep his cool, there could be chances to box and keep his distance. Brook’s right hand, if he can start to sneak it in behind the jab, could potentially upset Golovkin’s rhythm.

In order for that to work, Brook must be much better defensively than he’s ever been. Brook can be touched, often taking flush right hands. While he keeps his guard high, it’s not uncommon to see him take jabs between the gloves. For all his power, Golovkin is a highly skilled pressure fighter. He takes his share of shots too, but his chin has been an asset and he counters and parries well. He also sticks to the body attack, which could make Brook’s legs feel heavy sooner than later.

The most physical encounter of Brook’s career to date was his first fight with Carson Jones. Many thought he was lucky to get the duke and he took heavy punishment there, showing great guts to make it through a grueling fight. Brook has come a long way since Jones. It’s still a big jump from Porter and three relatively soft touch defenses to Golovkin.

In the Jr. bantamweight encounter later in the day, the unknown resides more with the man defending his crown.

Roman Gonzalez

Age: 29

Title: Lineal/TBRB/Ring/WBC World Flyweight (2014-Present, 4 Defenses)

Previous Titles: WBA Minimumwieght (2008-10, 3 Defenses); WBA Light Flyweight (2011-13, 5 Defenses)

Height: 5’3

Weight: 114 ½ lbs.

Hails from: Managua, Nicaragua?

Record: 45-0, 38 KO

Record in Major Title Fights: 14-0, 9 KO (15-0, 10 KO including interim title fights)

Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 8 (Yutaka Niida TKO4; Katsunari Takayama UD12; Ramon Garcia KO4; Juan Francisco Estrada UD12; Francisco Rodriguez Jr. TKO7; Akira Yaegashi TKO9; Edgar Sosa TKO2; Brian Viloria TKO9)

Vs.

Carlos Cuadras

Age: 28

Title: WBC Super Flyweight (2014-Present, 6 Defenses)

Previous Titles: None

Height: 5’4

Weight: 114 ¾ lbs.

Hails from: Mexico City, Mexico

Record: 35-0-1, 27 KO

Rankings: #1 (BoxRec), #2 (BoxingScene, TBRB, ESPN, Ring, Boxing Monthly)

Record in Title Fights: 6-0-1, 3 KO

Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 2 (Srisaket Sor Rungvisai Tech. Dec. 8; Luis Concepcion UD12)

Grades

Pre-Fight: Speed – Gonzalez B; Cuadras B+

Pre-Fight: Power – Gonzalez A; Cuadras B

Pre-Fight: Defense – Gonzalez B+; Cuadras B

Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Gonzalez A; Cuadras B+

While this looks to be a good fight when measuring the styles and the visible ability of both men, Cuadras is still a somewhat unknown quantity. His amateur pedigree, including a gold medal at the Pan Am Games, was solid. His professional resume isn’t that deep. He’s good but we can’t say for sure how good.

His title reign to date hasn’t been marked by regularly taking on the best in his class. His win over Luis Concepcion looks better in light of Concepcion winning a belt in the class. Sor Rungvisai was and remains a quality professional, though their cut shortened affair was getting closer by the round when Cuadras won the title.

This is Cuadras’s biggest, best chance to make his reign memorable. He may not be as good as his record. He may be every bit up to the stats, and that could be true even in defeat. We have to see the fight first.

For now, we can look at what Cuadras does in the ring and see areas that could be serious trouble for Gonzalez. Cuadras, despite his knockout numbers, isn’t regularly a huge puncher. The Mexican is a ball of energy, constantly moving in most fights before stopping to fire combinations from odd angles. He’s got a nice jab. Once landing, he’ll stay in the trenches but he knows to get out if the incoming gets hot. He’s not above showboating to frustrate opponents but he can sometimes get caught crossing his feet.

Against Gonzalez, that could be dangerous in a scoring sense. If the Nicaraguan can catch him with counters when his feet are out of place, there is a chance for quick knockdowns that hurt more on the scorecards than on the frame. Gonzalez, in contrast, displays some of the better balance in boxing. He’s usually in position to punch and is as smart as anyone in the game about turning fighters into his shots while firing combinations.

Both men get hit. For Gonzalez, it’s a byproduct of style. He sacrifices some defense for offense but rolls with shots well and also does a good job using his shoulders, gloves, and elbows to pick off punches. Gonzalez has shown a good chin to date but that will be tested more as he moves up the scale.

Cuadras’s defensive talents are good but not great. Cuadras employs head movement but he’s better at it when he’s fully on the defense. Cuadras doesn’t move seamlessly between offense and defense. He’s usually on one or the other. When he commits to punch, he can be wide open for left hooks and rights over the top. His movement limits offense but he doesn’t have the sort of defense that shuts offense down. It was a problem in his defense against Koki Eto; Eto rallied strong in the last third of their fight. To his credit, Cuadras wasn’t shy about throwing back at the aggressive challenger.

Against Gonzalez, if he leaves himself open, there will be a purposeful stream of punches coming behind the first that lands. If he can consistently force Gonzalez to reset while getting out of harm’s way after jumping in with combinations, he has a chance to win rounds and score the upset. He might be slightly faster of hand than Gonzalez and beating the Nicaraguan to the punch early could set a tone that lasts the night.

Can he handle a hard twelve with Gonzalez? Eto raised some questions about his stamina. There was a noticeable flag in that fight and he appeared to be tiring as the fight with Sor Rungvisai wore on. The latter saw the Thai go the body well, hurting him there. Cuadras is in with arguably the best body puncher in boxing Saturday.

The Picks

In both of these fights, we have solid favorites against men that are obviously talented. It is talent that is largely unproven against elite competition. Golovkin and Gonzalez are elite fighters. It’s very hard to pick against either of them. Let’s start with the middleweights.

Brook will have a London crowd on his side but they aren’t the one’s taking punches. Brook may have some good early rounds but the pressure and power of Golovkin will break him down. Those who fall in the foregone conclusion camp for this fight are going to be proven right. Golovkin breaks Brook down between rounds five and eight.

Gonzalez is more at risk of defeat. That’s all relative. While he has been, and in many ways remains, the co-star to Golovkin, his size has meant he has to take fights that HBO is willing to air at that size. There is an argument that he’s faced the tougher foe on paper on each of the three cards they’ve shared and is in tougher on a day they share across continents.

Cuadras just doesn’t appear to be as complete a fighter as Gonzalez. He has never seen anyone with the firepower and skilled refinement Gonzalez presents. Gonzalez has been a gamer in his biggest moments. He rises to the occasion. All his titles have been won by stoppage and he’s likely going to be as up for this fight as any of them. He’s going for a record number of divisional titles in his homeland in his first main event on HBO.

And he’ll be doing it with bigger money foes Juan Francisco Estrada and Naoya Inoue in the audience.

One has to love the confidence of Cuadras but that confidence will run into a feeling of inevitability. Gonzalez might be moving up, but he’s the better man. After what should be a close first six or so rounds, Gonzalez’s volume of leather takes over for a clear decision or late stoppage.  

Report Card and Staff Picks 2016: 31-10

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com