By Terence Dooley

Sheffield’s IBF welterweight titlist Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) has told the naysayers that he will be bigger, stronger and fitter when he steps up to middleweight to challenge WBC World, Super World WBA, IBF World and IBO middleweight Champion Gennady Golovkin (35-0, 32 early) at London’s O2 Arena on 10.

Brook was handed the assignment after negotiations between Golovkin, Chris Eubank Senior and promoter Eddie Hearn broke down.  For many, however, Brook is viewed as too small to test Golovkin and is seen as meat and drink for the consensus kingpin en route to more meaningful fights.

The 30-year-old spent most of 2015 and 2016 trying to nail down a domestic showdown with Amir Khan, who instead opted for a move to 155 to challenge Saul Alvarez.  Brook, though, now has a big fight on his plate and is relishing the opportunity to test himself against one of the best fighters on the planet.

“Ask any of my sparring partners when I get down to that natural weight of 160lbs, I'm a beast,” he said when speaking to Sky Sports News HQ.  “I'm a different animal.  What it takes for me to get down to 147 is really hard.  Anyone who knows me will tell you.

“I'm going to be eating very well in this camp.  I'm going to be fuelled for the sessions and able to push myself even more.  In this fight I'm going to shock a lot of people.  We're getting results already and we've still got weeks to go.

“I'm going to be frightening on fight night.  As crazy as it sounds, I'm looking forward to feeling his power.  I just can't wait to get in.  We're making history in this fight.  Nobody at welterweight will step in with me and the ones who will are pricing themselves out.”

The fight took many fans and pundits by surprise, but Brook insists that it will be competitive and was on his wish list for a long time.  He said: “We're going to shock the world on September 10.  People have been saying I won't step up to the plate, you don't get any bigger than this.

“All these fighters are running away from him and I'm running towards him because I want to show the world what I can do.  Every single day, I'm growing with confidence.”

He added: “I had to look at my phone twice when I saw the message asking me if I wanted the fight.  I want to do what the greats have done in history and be involved in the best fights.  You don't get much better than GGG.  He's a unified champion with all the belts on the line and I can't wait for that.

“I keep thinking of my idol, Sugar Ray Robinson, because he went in and did it.  I'm going to show everyone that I'm not a one-trick pony.  It's going to be a war and I'm going to prepare because I need to.  I'm in with a man and a middleweight.”

Sky Sports Box Office are televising the fight here in the U.K., Matchroom have already lined up a IBF World flyweight title showdown between John Riel Casimero and Charlie Edwards to an undercard that will also feature Conor Benn, the son of former two-weight world title-holder Nigel Benn.

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