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.

Proksa drops EBU title, Murray Vs Marie looking likely...



Proksa with the EBU title.

British-based middleweight prospect Grzegorz Proksa has done what was expected and relinquished the EBU middleweight title. As I said, this doesn't come as a shock as Proksa is fully occupied with his highly anticipated bout with Gennady Golovkin, which is potentially the biggest fight of his career.

 

It is now looking very likely that the EBU title will be put on the line for the fight between Martin Murray and Julien Sainte Marie (if it happens). The EBU have set a deadline of September 26th for negotiations such as purse bids and agreement to be finalised.

 

Proksa will be in the ring this Saturday night in New York where he will challenge the highly regarded Gennady Golovkin for the IBO & WBA "regular" titles.

 

Proksa ready for Golovkin!

For a few days now, there have been rumours circulating that EBU middleweight king Grzegorz Proksa will face highly rated and feared WBA "regular" champ Gennady Golovkin on September 1st and now, according to both camps, a deal has been finalized and the fight is almost definite.

Gennady Golovkin.

Proksa fought just two weeks ago on July 7th when he got revenge on former European champ Kerry Hope and knocked the Welshman out in nine rounds. The Surrey-based Pole realises that Golovkin is a dangerous fighter with a lot of power but he believes it is time for him to step up in class and face the best.

"[Golovkin] is on the crest of the global elite. His accomplishments in amateur boxing speak for themselves, he became a world champ and won a silver medal. This is a very smart fighter. He doesn't throw a lot of punches, but when he does he hits hard and he's accurate. Not surprisingly, others avoid fighting him... almost all of the top rated boxers of our division," said Proksa.

The 27-year old is also not worried about having a shorter training camp than usual.

"I will not have a proper training [camp], but why should I wait?.. Under favourable circumstances for such a fight, I would prepare for 3-4 months, but I believe in myself. I want to know how I will look against the best and if my name will go down in history."

Personally, I think it is great that Proksa is taking this fight. Most boxers of his experience and talent do not take on fighters as dangerous as Golovkin, but Proksa has taken a risk and if it pays off it will give his career a huge boost. It will also be the toughest fight of Golovkin's career. The 30-year old has looked unstoppable in his career so far, but he hasn't really fought anyone of much note. He will be a huge favourite going into the fight but he will have to be in top condition if he wants to look good against Proksa. No matter what happens, this is a great fight!

Hearn looking to make Abril Vs Rees & Golovkin Vs Proksa!

Matchroom's forever-improving promoter Eddie Hearn.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed that if things go well, we could get to see two really interesting fights later this year... The first being Gavin Rees Vs Richard Abril for the vacant WBA lightweight title.

Personally, I think this an amazing fight and if it does happen, a lot of people will be watching. Rees has been calling for a world title shot for a very long time and many people believe he deserves after his knock-out victory over domestic rival Derry Matthews on July 7th. Abril, technically is not coming off of a victory but almost everyone believes he should be.The Cuban world title contender put on a career-best performance against Brandon Rios on March 17th only to be clearly robbed. However, now he has a chance to get revenge and win the world title that he believes should rightfully be his.

"Abril is someone that we are talking to and we are looking to make that happen, but nothing will be announced this week," told Hearn.

The next brilliant fight that we could get to see is Grzrgorz Proksa Vs Gennady Golovkin. Personally, I don't think this fight is as good as Rees Vs Abril but it is still a very good fight. Proksa is coming off of a great performance in which he won back his European middleweight title. And I probably don't even need to stress to you how much of a good fighter Golovkin is. He is regarded by many as the most underrated fighter in the world and is no doubt a future world champion. Looking at it this early on, it seems like it will be a fairly one-sided fight in Golovkin's favour but if Proksa wants to prove that he is one of the best in the world he is going to have to take fights like this.

"Proksa was due to be fighting Barker on September 8th, but we're now in deep negotiations with Golovkin's camp to take that fight next month after we were approached by them," Hearn confirmed.

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."