Did Kell Brook and his team/manager/promoter willingly sell his 0?

[Motorcity Cobra]

Kell didn't, he has that belief of all great fighters and believed he could win. He was performing very well too until the eye went.

Eddie Hearn though, he sold Kell down the river. When the fight was announced the general reaction was clear; he's too small. Eddie threw him into a woeful situation and it could be even more problematic trying to safely get the weight back off.

But now Eddie is oh so concerned about Kell's health. If you're concerned about Kell's health you don't put him in there with GGG!!

[BoxingPugilist]

Honestly, I think he made a calculated decision. Of course he's a fighter, he thinks he sees something, he has the heart of a lion, he's going to get in there and fight to prove his the best. But I'm sure his management team was thinking, if he wins, great, he just dethroned the middleweight king. If he loses? No big deal - he jumped up two weight classes to face a guy who *some* people argue is the best in the world, can't be faulted for that lose. Unfortunately, I think the fight DID harm his reputation a bit more than they were anticipating. And not because his lose was so terrible, it wasn't, but rather because I think GGG was at the time looked like he was on the verge of becoming a bonafide international mega star - but over the last few months, I think people have grown tired of the "will they/won't they" story with Canelo, and it's left everyone a little sour on him and his team. As a result, in the court of public opinion, he's stock fell slightly, and as a result, Brooks' lose looks a little worse in the eye of the beholder to some fans.

[TonyGe]

Exactly. Brook is damaged goods now probably forever and people think he exposed flaws in Golovkin. It's ridiculous. I don't know what people expect from Golovkin. Do they expect him to never be hit? Of course he is going to get hit it's a boxing match.

[b00g13man]

Of course he did.

[bluepete]

Brook thought his power would effect GGG more, and I also think he thought he could outbox him. So yeah he thought he could win. With the built in excuse that he was too small if he lost. If he beats Spence, all will be forgive, except for the haters who will claim PED use or dodgy judges or whatever.

[Jewish-Reptile]

We know Tom Loeffler was in England negotiating with Matchroom to make the Chris Eubank, Jr. fight. Next thing, totally out of left field comes Kell Brook vs. Gennady Golovkin. Did Kell have any real business being in there, besides monetary? Did he sacrifice his 0 for a big payday? Did Eddie Hearn have to throw one of his marquee fighters under the bus to save face after the Eubanks strung them all along?

I can’t understand why Kell didn’t remain at Welterweight and defend his title there where there’s plenty of contenders. Or just vacate and move to Light Middleweight if the weight really is an issue. During the fight Kell did have a real go and that’s what makes me wonder. Since the fight though his team have had the attitude, “this stuff happens when you jump two weights against a killer...”. Kinda like, “Oh well…” like they half expected it to go the way it did.

Has Kell Brook’s stock risen as a result?

I feel that the fighters interests were skewed in this instance. Kell Brook's reputation as an undefeated fighter was no longer of the most interest to his team and promoter. I find that to be pretty saddening really. Same goes for Kell Brook, you've got to have that self-preservation and the self respect not to just bow down when the money signs start flashing. I have lost respect for all involved.

This isn't even in question. Dude had a tough mandatory coming up and they sold his virginity to the highest bidder, everyone screamed mismatch bar GGG fan boys and blow hard Brits. These guys will still tell you it was competitive.

[Eff Pandas]

It seems that way. My suspicion is that Hearn was tired of all these mishaps trying to setup a fight with a big name for a guy like Brook who's never really beaten many even good fighters. If not for Shawn Porter Brook's resume is compete garbage & this cat has been fighting for a decade & change.