Eddie Hearn
Eddie Hearn has backed Kell Brook to upset the odds in London Getty Images

KEY POINTS

  • The undefeated Briton is considered the underdog ahead of the fight.
  • Promoter insisted he is confident Brook will cause an upset in London.

Kell Brook has accepted the toughest assignment in world boxing by agreeing to fight Gennady Golovkin, according to promoter Eddie Hearn. The Matchroom Boxing supremo is eagerly looking forward to the bout at London's O2 Arena on 10 September and admits his fighter goes into the contest as the underdog.

However, Hearn thinks the Briton – who is stepping up from welterweight – has an outstanding chance of defeating the unbeaten Kazakhstani, who is the current unified WBA (Super), WBC, IBF and IBO middleweight champion.

More sports news

"Every now and again you make a fight that makes the hairs on your arms stand up and this is it," Hearn told IBTimes UK at a pre-fight press conference at The Dorchester in London. "35 and zero versus 36 and zero. The number one welterweight in the world against the number one middleweight in the world.

"On 10 September at the O2 Arena in London, I think we've got a very, very special fight. Kell Brook is a fighter we've worked with for 13 fights and each time I watch him, I think this boy is special.

"I had the privilege of being at Madison Square Garden for Golovkin's fight against David Lemieux and I felt exactly the same. Sometimes two special pound-for-pound great fighters meet and that's what we've got here."

Hearn said there are strong parallels between Brook's against-the-odds ambition and that of legendary American fighter 'Sugar' Ray Leonard when he came out of retirement in 1987 to fight and beat Marvin Hagler in Las Vegas. Leonard, like Brook, was an underdog going into the contest, but won courtesy of a controversial judges' decision.

"Kell Brook has stepped up to fight the most dangerous fight in world boxing," Hearn claimed. "Two divisions above his natural weight, like Marvin Hagler against Sugar Ray Leonard.

"To be a great fighter, you have to do great things and that is what Kell Brook is attempting on 10 September. From our side, we are very, very, very confident of success. We are not here in a no-lose situation. We're here to win and we're here to shock the world."