Gennady Golovkin stopped Kell Brook in the fifth round, at the 02 Arena, London, on Saturday night. The sell-out crowd witnessed an entertaining contest, that came to an unsatisfactory ending. The British challenger appeared to be suffering eye damage, which lead to the stoppage.
‘Triple G’ was well on top in the final round of this contest, landing at will, when Brook’s corner waved the towel to pull their man out of there. Sheffield’s Brook had given a decent account of himself but was always up against it. At several points Brook landed solid combinations, though the power was always with the Middleweight champion. Brook employed sound movement and a good jab, while Golovkin looked to close the gap and hunt his man down.
Defending his WBC, IBF & IBO titles the 34-year-old Golovkin, from Kazakhstan, now has a record of 36-0, 33 KOs. Kell Brook, 30, suffered defeat for the first time and his record is now 36-1, 25 KOs.
Here are some Quotes from both fighters:
Gennady Golovkin
“Thank you very much London. I wanted to bring the drama show because I know Kell is a very good fighter but sorry, he’s not a Middleweight.
“I know my style, I respect him, he’s good but not so strong. He just touched but I didn’t feel his power. So many punches but I didn’t feel them.
“I respect Kell, he is real and thanks to his corner, for his career and for his family, it’s correct because I feel it’s game over, it’s finished.
“First of all, I’m a boxer and I’m open for everybody. I want a unification fight. I would like Billy Joe Saunders first of all because he has the WBO belt.
Abel Sanchez:
“I’ve said anybody from 154 to 168 wouldn’t go 12 rounds with him. Kell is a very good fighter as you saw but eventually they’re going to break down and eventually his power and ability to land punches are going to take effect like it did with Kell. I’m happy the corner protected Kell because these guys aren’t going to quit because he is a warrior and Dom felt it was necessary at that point. I’m glad everybody is fine.”
Kell Brook
“I’m devastated. I expected him to be a bigger puncher. I think in the second round broke my eye socket, he caught me with a shot and I was starting to settle into the fight but I was seeing three or four of them so it was hard to get through it. I was tricking him, his shots were coming underneath and I was frustrating him. I was starting to settle into him but when you see three of four of them, it is hard to carry on.
“Believe me, I hurt him. When you’re in a fight, you can see every movement of a fighter and I saw his legs buckle a couple of times. I was starting to settle in. He’s a scary champion, nobody wants to fight him but I would fight him again. He is a great champion. I’m trying to give back to the fans and I hope they enjoyed the fight while it lasted. I wished I could go on but when there are five of him you don’t know which one to hit.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board, go on the machines. I have put a lot of muscle on. I think I’d be more suited to 154lb, I think I would be big and strong. I’d love the winner of Liam Smith v Canelo. I’ve jumped up two weight divisions and boxed a man everyone is running away from. It wasn’t my night, I am gutted because there was much, much more to come from me and I was just getting started but I was seeing five of them out there, I think I have bust an eye socket.
“I am a warrior, I want to carry it on, but my team watching it from the outside. You would have to kill me in here. I was starting to come on and I was starting to get into the fight. We knew the first five or six rounds were going to be very tough and then we were going to start boxing and taking over. “
Eddie Hearn
“Kell stepped up and fought the best, he was ahead on the scorecards but at the end of the day his eye socket has gone. He would fight all night but – I know the fans want to see the fight go on as long as possible – but you can’t be fighting a guy like Golovkin when you can’t focus on the guy. Kell deserves a huge amount of respect and I believe he is still one of the best fighters in the world. For five or six rounds he has given Golovkin a hell of a fight.”
