LONDON: Kazakh bruiser Gennady Golovkin regards Saturday's world middleweight title defence in London against home favourite Kell Brook as the biggest fight of his career, he said on Thursday.
Golovkin is regarded as one of the world's best pound-for-pound fighters after knocking out his last 22 opponents and defends two of his three middleweight titles against Brook at the O2 Arena.
Brook, the undefeated IBF world welterweight champion, is stepping up two weight divisions to face Golovkin, who is a big betting favourite.
But California-based Golovkin, 34, who has been ducked by fighters including Mexico's Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, told a press conference: "For us it's our biggest fight.
"There are a lot of people from different countries here for this fight and I love London, it feels like my second city.
"He looks good and he says he's ready. I'm ready for him. Kell is a champion and I respect him.
"I'm not scared. This is boxing. I respect my opponent. He's very strong and he's a very good fighter."
Unbeaten Golovkin, who has knocked out 32 of his 35 victims, will put his WBC and IBF belts on the line against Brook, who insists he will be better at middleweight than at welterweight.
Brook, 30, has made three defences of his IBF welterweight title since he was stabbed in the leg while on holiday two years ago, which threatened to end his career.
The Sheffield boxer defied the odds then and believes he can do it again when he attempts to become the sixth world champion to successfully jump two weight divisions and win another title.
This will be Brook's debut in the middleweight class, but bulking up has not been a problem for him.
'Shock the world'
He weighed in at over 167 pounds (76 kilograms) at his mandatory seven-day weight check -- seven pounds over the middleweight limit.
"I had to take a ridiculous amount of weight off to make welterweight and I've probably been 60 or 70 percent throughout my career, but this time I will be 100 percent," Brook said.
"There's fear with me, but that will make me so sharp in the fight. It's healthy and it will make me switched on.
"I've got the skills. Everyone is going on about me being a smaller guy coming up, but that's not the case.
"I've never trained with these sort of calories and fuel before. I'm naturally strong and I believe it's written that this fight has landed on my toes and I will shock the world.
"It will be the biggest upset ever. I'm passionate about doing something no British fighter has done before and this will be the biggest win ever, I believe."
Brook's trainer, Dominic Ingle, says the weight gain has been done sensibly and scientifically over a 20-week training camp.
"He has been on diets to take muscle off so he can make the weight," Ingle said.
"This is not a big guy fighting a small guy. We have been to universities and had everything measured. We've not taken any chances."
Abel Sanchez, Golovkin's trainer, responded: "Kell Brook will discover it takes more than a 10-week scientific experiment to beat Gennady Golovkin."