By Edward Chaykovsky
Retired super middleweight world champion Carl Froch was present at today's weighin for tomorrow's showdown between IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO middleweight champion Carl Froch and IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook.
The fight takes place at the O2 Arena in London. Sky Sports Box Office and HBO will carry the fight.
Brook (36-0, 25KOs) is moving up by thirteen pounds, and two weight divisions, to challenge Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs) for his belts at the full middleweight limit of 160-pounds.
Froch gives Brook a very good shot to pull off an upset. He struggled with Brook years ago in sparring sessions, but Froch - like everyone else - has no idea if all of his talents and power will carry over to the middleweight limit.
"In Kell Brook we have someone who is undefeated and very ambitious. At welterweight he has got that speed. He's very, very talented, I can tell you that firsthand. I've sparred with him before the Andre Dirrell fight, which was the first fight in the super six. And I couldn't quite get there and I couldn't quite tag him. I had to use my weight advantage and lean on him and push him back and bully him - just to get some sort of work off. His counter right hand, his fast jab, his sly head movement....... he's not got the typical Ingle style, the Johnny Nelson and Naseem Hamed style. He's not got that elusive, sort of cocky, arrogant style if you like. But he's got the basic fundamental skills of the Ingle camp, but that with a polished defense," Froch said.
"He's got great defense, great timing, and great speed - but this is all at welterweight. He's now a middleweight so we don't know what he's gonna bring as a middleweight. Is he still gonna have the speed? Hopefully. Is he going to be able to punch harder? Probably, because he's got more muscle, more bulk, more power. But how will he cope with somebody like Gennady Golovkin? It's a tough, tough task - , let's be honest, let's be terribly honest. But Kell Brook has definitely got the talent, he's got the movement, he's got the speed. Its just exciting thinking about how it's going to unfold. I think he needs to use his jab, use his range, use his counter right hand, use his movement a lot early on."
"There's gonna be times where they have to stand and fight, and when he does that we're gonna find out what happens and how he copes with taking the shots of Gennady Golovkin. And it's not just the head shots that any boxer has to worry about, it's also the body shots. And when you get hit to the body by people who are stronger than you and you feel it, and later on down the stretch when those shots are still soaking in and have drained your tank empty, that's when it can be the writing on the wall for you. It could be curtains."
"Dominic Ingle is a very experienced trainer. He knows what he's doing. He has tactics, plan A, plan B, plan C. Kell Brook has got a massive, massive chance to really, really shock the world. Will he do it? Nobody knows. we're all excited to find out. There could be a massive upset here and Gennady Golovkin could fall to Kell Brook."