Golovkin stops Proksa!

Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin has once again proved that he is the man to watch in the middleweight division right now. This time he has done it by knocking out Grzegorz Proksa in just five rounds.

At first, it looked as though it was going to be a tough night for the 30-year old. Proksa went down once in the first round but managed to rise back to his feet and cause Golovkin some problems. The British-based Pole was proving a tough target to hit until the fourth round, as that was when Golovkin decided to step up his work and unleash some of his concussive power. Proksa found himself on canvas once again in the 4th round, but once again he showed true grit and determination to rise back up to his feet. But unfortunately, it was clear that the quick-thinking Golovkin had already figured him out. Proksa did well to survive the round but that was just about it. In the 5th, Golovkin's punches were just even faster and harder and this time when Proksa went down he didn't get back up in time.

You have to feel for Proksa at the moment though. He was at the top of his game after just seven weeks of training and if he was in the ring with any other fighter it could have been different. It was just that even his best wasn't good enough to beat Golovkin. I think it's now time for Proksa to go back to his drawing board, sort out his defence and then starting aiming for another world title fight.
Golovkin on the other hand must now be on the verge of a fight with one of the top men in the division. He has proved time and time again that he deserves to be up there with the best and I think its only fair that he gets the opportunity.

Brook taken to a place he has never been before!

Undefeated British welterweight Kell Brook fought last night (June 7th) and extended his perfect record to 28-0. However, it wasn't as easy as some people expected it to be. Jones put up a hell of a fight and made it the toughest test of Brook's entire career.

Brook started well and easily won the first four or five rounds but then things started to change. The tactics that were ineffective for Jones at the start of the fight, were starting to work and bring the American back into the fight. In the first few rounds, it was Brook's physical strength and superior boxing skills that were keeping Jones at bay, but the spite that Brook desperately wanted to prove he had, may have just worked against him in the middle rounds. 'The Special One' started to get involved in a war and this style of fight suited Jones.

The hard-punching American continued to move forward and at one point, Brook looked a little dazed and wobbly. It was revealed that after the 8th round that Brook was suffering from a broken nose. It was clear that this was effecting Brook has he was breathing heavily and not throwing his punches with the same aggression that he was at the beginning. 

Brook managed to last the final few rounds and even stood toe-to-toe with Jones in the last minute or so of the fight. The judges scorecards at the end were 114-114, 116-113, 115-113. The last two were fair, but I still don't know how the first judge managed to score the fight a draw. Jones had a few good rounds, but Brook was in control for the majority of the fight.

'The Special One' proved a lot of things in this fight, but also left a lot of questions. We are still wondering if he is ready to step up in class and fight world beaters, but he did prove to all of his doubters that he has a tremendous amount of heart and almost a pretty strong chin.

On the under-card of the fantastic show set up by Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn, there were no surprises. Gavin Rees scored a 9th round KO over Derry Matthews in their highly anticipated rematch for the European lightweight title. And in the other great rematch, Proksa won back his European middleweight title by knocking out Kerry Hope in the 8th round.

Darren Barker eyeing big names for his September return!

"Dazzling" Darren Barker.

British middleweight Darren Barker is set to return to the ring in September and he is in need of an opponent.

One of the names mentioned is highly-rated middleweight prospect Grzegorz Proksa. But this can only happen if he wins his European title back in a rematch with fellow British middleweight Kerry Hope on July 7th.

"There was never any chance of me not fighting again," said Barker. You've got to find the balance when looking at my next opponent, but I'm content to carry on where I left off and obviously get back to winning ways before pushing back to the top level. It would be nice to fight Grzegorz Proksa. I wouldn't mind fighting either [Hope or Proksa], but I've got a lot of faith in Eddie Hearn and my team, so we'll wait and see what happens."

Barker against Proksa would be a great comeback fight for Barker and would provide a tough test for the former world title contender. However, there is a much bigger name that Barker is targeting. And that person is WBA world champion Felix Sturm. The German struggled against Matthew Macklin and Martin Murray and Barker reminded him that there is one other top British super-middleweight that he needs to face.

"We've had no offers from him yet," claimed Barker. "But I'd go straight out to Germany for Sturm - no problem."

This would be a much better fight for Barker but personally, I think he should have a few less difficult fights to warm himself up again and then move onto a world title fight.

There is a growing rivalry between Darren Barker, Martin Murray and Matthew Macklin who all believe that they are the best middleweight in Britain. But it looks a long way away until any of them actually meet in the ring. Macklin has repeatedly trash-talked and bad-mouthed his fellow countrymen and Barker is not happy about this.

"It did surprise me a bit to be honest. Myself and Martin deserve more respect because we've proved that we're top level fighters, so to be called a "stepping stone" was quite an insult and is something that will come back to haunt him."

Rees Vs Matthews II & Proksa Vs Hope II added to July 7th show!

Rees Vs Matthews I.

Two highly anticipated rematches have been added to the July 7th show at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, that will be headlined by Kell Brook.

The first rematch announced was Gavin Rees Vs Derry Matthews. The two men met last October and battled it out for Rees' European lightweight title. It was expected to be a cracking fight and the first few rounds were very interesting. However, the bout was cut short after Matthews broke his nose in the fourth round after a clash of heads.

Both fighters last outings were very successful. Rees put on a fantastic performance in Paris and retained his title by stopping Anthony Meezache in the 7th round. But, if that was a good performance from the Welshman, then the Liverpudlian Derry Matthews' was even better! He upset the odds and became the new British lightweight champion after he pulled off a fantastic 6th round stoppage win over bookie's favourite Anthony Crolla.

The fight has all the makings of a potential fight of the year and the show promoter Eddie Hearn feels the same: "The Rees Vs Matthews fight in Wales was warming up nicely when Derry got injured, and I'm glad they're getting the chance to get it on again. Gavin was fantastic in France when he beat Meezache and Derry's performance against Crolla was very impressive and he certainly deserves a second crack at the title."

Kerry Hope upset the odds.

The second rematch is a fight between Greg Proksa and Kerry Hope. Now, I'm sure that anybody who saw the first fight between these two will be desperate to see it again. Their first fight came on the 17th March this year and was easily the best fight of the night, even thought Kell Brook and Matthew Hatton were topping the bill. Proksa was the huge favourite and nobody even thought Hope stood a chance. But, the Welshman upset the odds and battled his way to a majority decision win. Some people might be wondering why Hope took the rematch instead of moving on to the bigger guys in the division but he believes he needs to prove that the first win wasn't a fluke.

Eddie Hearn is also very happy to be staging this bout on July 7th: "Kerry Hope's win over Greg Proksa was a real shock to everyone - apart from Kerry and his team. They were convinced he had the goods to beat Greg and so it proved, he was terrific and it was gruelling and gripping contest. Greg will have revenge on his mind while Kerry won't want to let the title out of his hands, so I expect this rematch to top the ferocious intensity of the first fight."

Unbeaten welterweight Kell Brook will headline the show against an opponent that will be announced on SkySports' show Ringside on May 10th.