Golovkin's initial reaction to Brook offer
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Perhaps no one more so than Golovkin himself as K2 Promotions’ Managing Director Tom Loeffer told him about the 11th hour switch.
“Yeah, my first reaction is big surprise,” he said last week at the Summit in Big Bear, California, after his day’s work had concluded,“because, every time with Chris Eubank, I would think it’s close because I told Tom, ‘I need fight in UK, new public, new fans, news marketing.’ (Loeffler) said, ‘OK, I have just one surprise for you – Kell Brook. ’ I said, ‘Wow, look, Tom, this is not serious. This is not respect. He’s small.’
“‘(Loeffler) said, ‘No, believe me; he’s not small. He’s going to 160. He wants deal at 160. He said, if he beats you, he wants all your belts.’ I said, ‘OK, gimme a chance to watch him.’ I look at him; yeah, he’s big, maybe a little bit smaller in the shoulders. He’s got muscles, he’s big. So I said, ‘Yeah, OK, Tom, you know my style. He comes to my category, 160, my weight division. It doesn’t matter. I’ll fight anybody. It doesn’t matter. Just take the the deal. I’m ready.'”
But given that Golovkin and his trainer Abel Sanchez were critical of Saul Alvarez defending his WBC middleweight title against Amir Khan, who, like Brook, is a welterweight, is there a bit of irony – if not hypocrisy – in facing a 147-pound beltholder? Golovkin admitted his initial reaction to Loeffler was, ”Look, please, I’m not respecting this.”