By Gav Duthie: Even before he gets the fairytale fights against Canelo, Cotto, Froch or Ward I am convinced Gennady Golovkin is the real deal. Many rightly predicted that he would walk through Daniel Geale but I wasn’t sure.
I still saw Geale as an awkward top 6 middleweight who’s only losses were of the narrowest of margins and I always worry about punchers against skilful opponents. GGG is far more than a puncher. He now has 27 knockouts from his 30 wins and it is extremely rare that a puncher can settle a fight with one single blow at world level but his all round technique is fantastic.
Arthur Abraham and other big punchers.
I made the mistake of thinking that Golovkin could have been a reincarnation of Arthur Abraham. If you cast your mind back only about 5 years ago Abraham was just as revered. He fought to victory over 12 rounds against knockout artist Edison Miranda with a broken jaw and then at 30-0 (24) he dominated Jermaine Taylor before stopping him in the final round. Many thought he was favourite for the super 6 but what happened to him is what often happens to big punchers at the top level. As aforementioned its difficult to knock out top opponents with one punch and the top percentage of boxers don’t get hit with much more than single shots. This usually means that often the power punchers we were so excited about look one dimensional and their flaws float to the surface i.e. lack of hand speed, poor footwork, inability to cut off the ring, no jab etc. Abraham was found wanting particularly against Froch and Ward.
Other examples of fighters around similar weight classes is Ricardo Mayorga. He shocked the late Vernan Forrest with devastating unorthodox punching and we all waxed lyrical about him. He was exposed many times since by slick boxers like Corey Spinks and strong boxers who weren’t intimidated by him like Felix Trinidad. Breidis Prescott has lost 6 fights since he knocked out Amir Khan and even though Argentine duo Marcos Maidana and Lucas Mattyhse are top fighters they can be outboxed.
Golovkin
Where Golovkin seems to differ is his footwork. He isn’t particularly in any rush to knock out his opponent but he is fantastic at putting them in positions in the ring where they don’t want to be. I would never say that Daniele Geale was world class but he is a fighter with movement and can dig in if required. Darren Barker threw everything but the kitchen sink at Geale but only one punch settled the fight for Golovkin. Golovkin makes subtle shifts in his footwork to corner his opponent. Also because he switches well between the head and body it makes it difficult for the opponent to know how to defend. Again his footwork was spot on for the knockout. It wasn’t the ferocity of the shot that did it, it was the timing. Being that Geale he couldn’t get out of the pocket moving side to side he jumped in at Golovkin, then one step back by GGG and a perfectly timed right hand floored Geale. He has probably been hit by worse but what knocks a fighter out is more often the surprise of the punch. His jab can also control the pace and tempo of a fight which means against a solid opponent he could still outbox them.
What next?
Gennady Golovkin is a knockout artist but I would back him all the way to outbox a top opponent over twelve rounds. You cannot amass an amateur record of 345-5 without being able to box. The only concern for me opponent wise is that the best are not in his division. If he were to try and unify the titles Cotto would be the man to go for as Sam Soliman has already lost 11 fights and is in his 40’s and Peter Quillin isn’t a big enough name. If he does get Cotto or even Canelo people might say that they are only jnr middleweights but is he strong enough to beat Froch or Ward at 168. I think the next big fight would be Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr and I think he would knock him out too.
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