By Jake Donovan
Gennady Golovkin and Kell Brook easily made weight ahead of their middleweight title fight, which takes place Saturday evening in front of a sold-out crowd at O2 Arena in London, England.
As has been the case for most of his six-year reign, Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs) came in at a fit and trim 159 pounds. In stark contrast, Brook - a reigning welterweight titlist who makes his middleweight debut - tipped the scales at a muscular 159.4 pounds.
The bout will air live on Sky Sports in the UK, and in a special Saturday matinee edition of HBO's World Championship Boxing in the United States.
Those who've attempted to navigate around the reality of a monstrous-punching middleweight facing a career-long welterweight continue to touch themselves over the fact that Brook (36-0, 25KOs) has been the heavier boxer at every official weigh-in. Golovkin rarely fluctuates in weight, almost always well within 10 lbs. of the contracted limit at the start of camp and even at the 30-day pre-fight check, where the tolerable limit is 176 lbs.
Eyebrows were raised when Brook came in just at the 10% allowable limit above contract at the 30-day check and once again outweighed Golovkin at the 7-day mark, where neither boxer could weigh more than 5% above the middleweight limit, a maximum allowance of 168 lbs.
None of that changes the fact that Brook has never fought at this weight. His welterweight reign remains on hold, a two-round blitzing of overmatched mandatory challenger Kevin Bizier this pat March marking his third successful defense of the belt he acquired in a 12-round points win over Shawn Porter more than two years ago.
The unbeaten Brit gets home nation advantage, as Golovkin - who won Olympic silver for Kazakhstan in the 2004 Athens Games - fights for the first time in England. The occasion was to come versus Chris Eubank Jr., who talked a good game before and after the fight was formally presented to him, only for his favorite pen to run out of ink when it came time to sign the contract.
Eubank Jr. is among a lengthy list of middleweights who claim a willingness to face Golovkin, as long as it's not next. The second-generation boxer joins a field that includes:
- Lineal middleweight champ Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, who went from Mexico's favorite son to the running joke of his rich boxing nation after willingly handing over his WBC title to Golovkin with the "promise" of a fight in September 2017;
- Paper champion Daniel Jacobs, who faces Sergio Mora in a pointless rematch later this evening in Reading, Penn. and - like Alvarez - has chosen the "wait 'till next year' route in his alleged pursuit of Golovkin, for whom he is the mandatory contender;
- Unbeaten belt holder Billy Joe Saunders, who had his chance to face Golovkin earlier this year, only to disappear when it came time to commit - and then resurface on social media the moment Golovkin moved on to face Dominic Wade.
This is how we've arrived at Golovkin looking for title defense number 17, which comes versus a top-ranked welterweight. A win will move him within three defenses of matching the division record of 20 set by Bernard Hopkins, who is now a promotional stakeholder in Golden Boy Promotions.
Perhaps as Golovkin inched closer to history, Alvarez and the Golden Boy staff will feel compelled to at least stand in the way.
Until then, boxing fans remain stuck wading through the middleweight muddle.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox_v2
