By Cameron Gillon: Last night at Madison Square Garden in New York City America, power punching Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin (30-0, 27 KOs) made short work of Australia’s Daniel Geale (30-3, 16 KOs) to retain his WBA and IBO middleweight world titles in a 3rd round knockout. I myself made a prediction of a 8th or 9th round KO for Golovkin.
I don’t think many thought he would win the fight that quickly as some thought that Geale was a bit of a step up to the type of opposition Golovkin has faced, but it’s not 16 fights in a row that Gennady Golovkin has won by the way of knockout or a referee stopping the fight taking the run all the way back to 2009. Straight after the win Golovkin was interviews by HBO commentator Max Kellerman and when asked who he would like to face next, he said he would like a unification fight against the other champions in Peter Quillin, Sam Soliman or Miguel Cotto but the name that stood out was Cotto.
This is no surprise as in many boxing fans mind Cotto took the easy option of winning a world title at middleweight by beating a past his prime Sergio Martinez, who hadn’t fought for over a year and had to many hard injuries that will likely be there for however long he decides to fight from now on. Cotto is a natural welterweight fighter and has had one fight at 160 and is already regarded as the best middleweight by ring magazine due to winning the WBC, RING MAGAZINE and LINEAL world title belts from Martinez and I bet Golovkin is biting at the chop to get them titles and the fight knowing Cotto is above Golovkin in the rankings. Golovkin is clearly the best middleweight in the world and he knows he has to beat Cotto to get the true recognition of that status.
Cotto may have looked rejuvenated and a new fighter against Martinez, as Cotto really did destroy him. Cotto’s trainer Freddie Roach said he thinks he’s got the old Cotto of old back, but until he beats a Golovkin, Quillin or Saul “Canelo” Alvarez that statement is going to be looked over. I’m not taking anything away from Cotto, he is a tremendous fighter and a well respect fighter in the sport with a great fan base, and I for one would be excited by him fighting Golovkin or Canelo next.
Golovkin has also been very vocal about fighting Mexicans next pay per view star Canelo, who recently beat the slick Cuban fighter Erislandy Lara in a split decision victory at the MGM Grand on July 12th. There has been no word from the Canelo camp or Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya about putting Alvarez against Golovkin next, but you would have to think about the facts that De La Hoya was worried enough about having Canelo fight Lara, let alone fighting Golovkin straight after. Golovkin is another breed of fighter, he carries heavyweight punching power at middleweight and that’s why not many fighters will jump at the chance of getting in the ring with him which is a problem.
A Canelo vs. Golovkin fight makes sense as there are split views from fans all over the world saying these two are yet to prove they are born for superstar glory, if this fight was made then the winner would finally be recognized as the best out there in the division, Canelo should be a middleweight and he won’t be able to weight drain himself to 155 catch weights forever as he is a fast growing fighter now.
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