Loeffler: Froch, Eubank, Saunders Said 'No' - Brook Said 'Yes!'

By Carlos Boogs

Promoter Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions has been trying to bring IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs) to the UK for a very long time.

First they were in talks with Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport for a showdown with super middleweight champion Carl Froch, who initially expressed interest but then announced his retirement from the sport. Then they attempted to secure a unification with WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders, who refused to fight for anything less than $4 million.

And then there was the recent situation with a fall clash against British middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr., which dragged on for weeks and eventually fell dead in the water after the Eubank camp demanded outrageous terms - like operational control of the entire event.

Golovkin will finally get the opportunity to fight on UK soil on September 10th, when he defends his belts against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-0, 25KOs), who moves up by thirteen pounds.

"When Gennady wanted to go to the UK, we had a big demand from the UK fans. We tried to bring him over. We tried to do a deal with Eddie for Carl Froch, that didn't materialize. Then we were talking about Billy Joe Saunders, to unify the last title - the WBO title, that didn't materialize. We couldn't reach terms with Saunders. Then the Chris Eubank situation.  We came very close, Eddie was very positive and thought it would happen - and then that didn't happen," Loeffler said.

"And then Eddie was able to get a verbal commitment from Brook in two hours and then it took us literally two days to sign a deal. That's why we have so much respect [for Kell Brook]. When two fighters really want to fight each other, it's not that hard to make a deal. If one fighter wants to fight and the other fighter wants to talk about the fight, you can't make a deal that way. And that's why we give Kell a lot of credit. I know they've had similar issues on their side and that solves a lot of problems."