TOM LOEFFLER PRAISES THE COURAGE AND AUDACITY OF KELL BROOK

By James Blears

K2 Promotions Chief Tom Loeffler says undefeated IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook is A1 for seizing the opportunity of fighting unbeaten WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin at O2.

Tom who`s accompanied Gennady to Mexico City for the presentation of the green and gold WBC belt, explained: “I give Kell a lot of credit.  He has a lot more courage and he has a bigger heart than a lot of the middleweights that we tried to get in the ring with Gennady.  In his time, Sugar Ray Leonard proved that you can make  history by moving up in weight to win championships.  Kell is taking a big risk, but if he wins the fight, then all of a sudden, he`s top of the sport of boxing.  He`s a big welterweight, Gennady`s a small middleweight. When they stand next to each other, the size difference isn`t  going to be as big as it looks on paper.

“Gennady is a huge puncher and that`s the biggest reason we`re having so many problems getting the bigger name middleweights in the ring with him. Twenty two knockouts in a row, is sometimes discouraging for fighters.  But Gennady is a fan favourite in the ring and very likeable outside the ring. While Kell has a great style himself, he`s undefeated, he`s got a lot of power at welterweight.  So it`ll be an interesting match, where Kell naturally will bring his speed with him, and it`ll be a great match up.”

Tom is also excited about the O2 Arena and London: “You have a multiple world champion going from America where he normally fights, to Kell`s home country.  So Kell will have the home field advantage and Gennady will have something of the weight advantage. It`ll be a great event, with a lot of positive reaction from the fans. It`s turned into a great event for both fighters.”

As for the Canelo factor, Tom says if it was up to Gennady the fight would have been made as soon as possible.  He also explained: “We saw from before when we talking about fighting Carl Froch, or Chavez Jr,  you can`t force people to get into the ring with Gennady.  But I think the fight with Canelo will happen, it`ll be a huge event in the sport of boxing, and Canelo has a lot of heart.  He`s proven to be a very marketable champion.  I think that fight will happen next year in September!”