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!

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.

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.

And they called him Kerry 'No' Hope...

Middleweight Kerry Hope.

Britain has just witnessed one of the most amazing fights ever seen on a British under-card and it's all thanks to Mr Kerry Hope! There was no much build up or talk about the fight as it was simply seen as ticking over fight for skillful Polish prospect Grzegorz Proksa but that was until Hope put on the biggest performance of his life!

He was given no chance and many were calling him Kerry 'No' Hope as he was going into the fight with a record of 16-3-0 compared to his opponents flawless record of 26 wins from 26 fights.

Even the commentators were claiming it would be over in the first few rounds but they were forced to eat their words. Hope started slow and it looked as if the experts predictions were going to be right as Proksa was easily dominating but then half way through the 2nd round Hope came on strong forcing Proksa onto the ropes. Proksa managed to settle down again but after an accidental clash of heads at the end of the round everything changed in Hope's favour.

From that point on Hope just kept coming forward. Proksa showed a few little bursts of energy and shook Hope a few times. The fight was close right up until the last punch and nobody was sure who the judges would give the results to.

The moment came for the MC to announce the result and then you heard him shout the words ''AND THE NEW EUROPEAN MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION KERRY HOPE!'' You could see the disgust and shock Proksa's face but more importantly the delight on Kerry Hope's face.

Hope is a a true warrior that will now go on to bigger and better things!