Loeffler on GGG-Brook in London: Even Roy Jones Jr didn’t do that

By Przemek Garczarczyk
Photo: Chris Farina/K2 Promotions

“At the photo shoot in London, Kell was heavier than Gennady is right now. GGG walks around 170, maybe 172. If GGG decides to fight at 168, he will have zero problems to beat whoever is in front of him and go back to 160 to defend his belts. Imagine how much faster than his opponents Gennady would be at 168 plus add his power. Kell Brook in London was maybe 180 pounds. He’s saying that feels so much stronger because had to lose so much weight to make 147. Even on fight night, I think Brook will weigh way more than GGG. Big welterweight vs. small middleweight,” said K2 managing director Tom Loeffler. Loeffler, who promotes WBC/WBA/IBF champion Gennady Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) talks about GGG’s September 10 clash with Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KO) – and much more.

Did you already get immune to naysayers criticizing GGG vs. Brook?

Our perspective is to build Gennady up, make him bigger with every fight. And this is a huge fight, especially on the international level. O2 Arena in London is the fourth big arena in two countries that he sold out. Haters are running out of excuses why he’s marketable. When we couldn’t get the three middleweights we were talking to, the Kell Brook fight become one of the most talked about fights of 2016. It will be on Sky, HBO, for the first time we did a deal with RTL in Germany. And now GGG is fighting an undefeated world champion – in by far the biggest promotion he was in his career. And we sold out 02 Arena in London in 11 minutes – faster than heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Let’s get back a little, to remind readers of some crucial facts. When you started the intercontinental conversation with Eddie Hearn, the name “Kell Brook” wasn’t even in the picture.

We were discussing the Eubank Jr fight for over a month and Eddie was very sure he could deliver the fight. When it started to get longer and longer, he becomes less sure that he’d get it. So I decided to put a deadline, saying ‘Eddie, we’ll jeopardize Gennady’s ability to fight in September!’ I told him that we got a date on HBO for September in the USA if we cannot make the fight with Eubank Jr. Eddie delivered Eubank a deadline and they were running into all kinds of issues in the end with things Eubank wanted to change on the agreement…

Money?

Not really, because they were partners with Eddie. They wanted to change ticket prices – double it – have say who will be on undercard, who will be announcers on SKY. It got to the point where Eddie said that he can’t close the deal. We were running out of time, O2 Arena was reserved for September 10. Quick note to haters asking ‘why wouldn’t you fight this guy or another when Eubank bout did not happen,’ it’s not easy: arena already booked, TV deal’s done. When Eddie came back with the Brook suggestion, within two hours Kell agreed to the deal and the contract was signed in 48 hours. All we did was change names (on the contract) from “Chris Eubank Jr.” to “Kell Brook.” It was easy… because Kell wanted to fight GGG. It solved the problem for both sides, because Brook had problems with the Jesse Vargas fight. What we knew from the beginning was that Gennady never had any issues with fighting abroad. It was the same when we discussed with Eddie Hearn a possible Carl Froch fight – Golovkin was always ready to travel. GGG fans in the UK always wanted us to fight there, but I never imagined that we would make a trip there to fight Kell Brook… but he showed the most heart. No surprise, because we knew this about him before, when Kell fought in LA against Shawn Porter, considered then the best welterweight in the world. He’s a warrior. In my 20+ years of being in this business, I never saw more fighters who don’t want their shot at the world titles than in GGG case. Kell is an exception.

And welterweight…

Nobody’s is hiding that. But the fact also is that GGG is a small middleweight and Kell is a big welterweight. Sugar Ray Leonard, who wasn’t in his prime – like 30-year old Brook is – jumped two weight classes to fight Marvin Hagler. Same with Shane Mosley, who was an underdog versus Oscar De La Hoya and won. Adrien Broner fighting Paulie Malignaggi. Not a problem, but when there’s Gennady Golovkin involved…

For me, all the complaints are the biggest possible compliment Gennady can get. He’s so good, that EVERY fight is a mismatch. Maybe it’s time you should start to accept this rhetoric and be happy about it.

I think that’s a great point. Talking about weight classes – at the photo shoot in London, Kell was heavier than Gennady is right now. GGG walks around 170, maybe 172. If GGG decides to fight at 168, he’ll have zero problems to beat whoever and go back to 160 and defend his belts. Imagine how much faster than his opponents Gennady would be at 168, plus add his power. Kell Brook in London was maybe 180 pounds. He’s saying that he feels so much stronger because he had to lose so much weight to make 147. Even on fight night, I think Brook will weigh way more than GGG. Big welterweight vs. small middleweight. I’m not spinning anything – it’s a fact. Some people try to ignore the facts, go with their own narrative that suits their purposes – but this is not based in reality. Educated boxing fights understand that.

Great promotion for both fighters – check. Fan interest – check. What about boxing challenges waiting for Gennady Golovkin in London?

Welterweights bringing their speed vs. middleweights. Gennady might be the biggest puncher – 22 straight KOs – but Kell Brooks brings the speed from welterweight; he will move a lot, he will not stand in front GGG and trade punches. We know that. We also know that he doesn’t know how to lose. He’s never down in his career. So what that Gennady is a favorite to win? He would be a betting favorite against any middleweight or even 168-pounders. In fact – if look at odds – they’re the closest they’ve even been, probably the closest since the Greg Proksa fight. British fans are very educated fans – they’re very familiar with Kell Brook. They also know that Gennady is one of the best P4P fighters in the world and it almost never happens, that the best fighter in the world comes to the UK to defend his belts. Even Roy Jones Jr. didn’t do that. It evens out a lot. Gennady will work with Abel Sanchez in Big Bear as usual, because Abel has great facilities here. Everything is so familiar for Golovkin. We will arrive in London for fight week festivities on Monday, fight on Saturday. Same routine as always. No problem.

What we should know about GGG as a human being, not only a fighter?

That he really cares about fans. Not just talks about it. Never takes anything for granted. Gennady wants to put on a show even when it means he has to take a few punches in order to deliver an exciting fight. Not really a “safety first, boring decision is enough” kind of guy. One more example: How many world class/multiple champions would break their training camp, fly two days to another continent for one day… because fans deserve it and he promised that? Especially when the event is already sold out. Believe me, you would hear “I’m not gonna do that!” a lot. Never from GGG. He genuinely cares.