Gennady Golovkin has beaten Kell Brook and retained his world middleweight title after a sensational bout at the o2 arena. Brook was expected to be blown away by Golovkin's absurd power, but he stood up to the task bravely.
The fight was eventually ended in the fifth round by Brook's corner, with the British fighter suffering from a suspected broken eye socket. It was an exceptionally brave performance by Brook against GGG, with many commentators having the fight marked as a draw heading into the fifth.
An eye socket injury suffered during the second round eventually took its toll, and eventually, with Brook backed into a corner by Golovkin, his corner threw in the towel.
Watch the climactic moment below:
THE TOWEL HAS BEEN THROWN IN AND GOLOVKIN BEATS BROOK BY TKO!!!
WHAT A FIGHT!!! 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥
pic.twitter.com/n5tivBlMWv— Strictly Boxing Fans (@BoxingBritain1) September 10, 2016
Prior to the throwing of the towel, Brook withstood this Golovkin flurry:
This is why Kell Brook's corner threw the towel! A storm of punches from Triple Ghttps://t.co/61iJQU9Hy3#GGGBrook #GGG #Golovkin #boxing
— BetAndSkill (@betandskill) September 10, 2016
While it was an anti-climax to such a superb scrap, and many fans expressed displeasure in the arena afterwards, Brook revealed afterwards that he had blurred vision having taken a heavy blow in the second round.
Max Kellerman of HBO had an interesting take, that Brook was tiring badly, and that his corner assumed responsibility before the inevitable:
After 4th, Roy Jones watched Brook in corner & told me "Brook giving up." Corner stopped prematurely to put responsibility on them #GGGBrook
— Max Kellerman (@maxkellerman) September 10, 2016
On a slightly tangential note, Andy Lee has told this website in the past that, to prepare to fight Golovkin, you train for a four-round fight: you either go all in and knock him out early or you'll eventually succumb to his power.
Credit to Brook: the step up in two weight divisions was always going to be too much, but he withstood a hell of a lot while also hurting Golovkin. Even though the champ didn't admit it afterwards.
