By Carlos Boogs
Teddy Atlas, veteran trainer and expert analyst for ESPN, was not impressed with the most recent performance by IBF/WBA/IBO/WBC middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (36-0, 33KOs).
Two weeks ago, Golovkin traveled over to the UK to defend his titles against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook at the O2 Arena in London.
Brook, who competes at 147, moved up by thirteen pounds to challenge Golovkin at the full middleweight limit of 160-pounds.
Going into the fight, Golovkin was a massive favorite to win. Brook surprised a lot of experts, when he held his own and started landing a lot of punches on Golovkin during the contest. Brook also gave the bigger man some fits with his hand and foot speed.
Golovkin started dominating in the fifth round, cracking Brook with numerous hard punches before the corner threw in the towel to stop the fight.
Atlas wonders if the widespread rumors are true, that Golovkin got sick in the days leading up to the fight. Golovkin's camp have denied those rumors.
"I thought he looked horrible in his last fight to be quite frank," Atlas told At The Fights: Monday and Friday 6-8pm EST on SiriusXM Rush 93.
"I thought it was a weird night, a very strange night. I don't know what was wrong with him. He didn't look himself. He didn't look his normal, confident, calm self. He looked very focused, but almost concerned before the fight.
"I don't know if he got sick. I thought that myself, because the biggest concerns as a trainer is when you have to go to another country to get ready. You have to go a couple of weeks ahead to acclimate and get used to the time. You have to worry about getting sick, you have to worry about food, you have to worry about travel. There are so many things that you have to worry about.
"All I know is that he was aggressive, but recklessly aggressive. He didn't do it with the planned aggression and effective aggression that he usually does it with. There wasn't a thought process when he was in the ring, there was just a guy who was going to attack and hope to get it over with."
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