By Bob Smith: Like many Americans, I was ignorant of a virtually unknown middleweight titlist for all of the 2000s, and all the way into late 2012. Back then, the two major fights were Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Manny Pacquiao and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio Martinez, and both were great and even electrifying fights.
On you tube in early 2013, I saw a tremendous victory of this nearly unknown fighter against Gregory Proksa, a fighter who fights in a style quite similar to Sergio Martinez and who was a top 20 middleweight.
It was a tremendous victory for Gennady Golovkin against the elusive and skilled Proksa, who had never been knocked down in his career prior to that fight. But it was easy to write off as a basically unimportant fight between two European-level fighters who had yet to make it to the bigger and more skilled market and arena of American boxing.
Against Gabriel Rosado, I did think Golovkin would win, mainly because Rosado is normally a junior middleweight, but he also is a quite skilled and underrated one, and I thought perhaps he would pick up some tips from Bernard Hopkins and catch Golovkin unawares and maybe pull off an upset.
After fast-forwarding through the Ishida fight, Macklin was supposed to provide, and perhaps was, the biggest test for Golovkin to date. I again did think Golovkin would win, but not in a dominating fashion, and thought instead that he might wear Macklin down and get a late stoppage. After all, Macklin effectively beat Felix Sturm and was a peer of Sergio Martinez in most of their fight together.
I was shocked by the effectiveness of his left hook to the liver, and had no idea that he would finish off Macklin in a mere three rounds.
Against Curtis Stevens, Golovkin was the odds on favorite, but perhaps an upset was possible, as Stevens was a former super middleweight contender and currently is one of the hardest punchers in the middleweight division, with an excellent left hook. If GGG is not careful, perhaps he could be dropped, pushed back, or made to look silly.
What was most shocking about the fight, even more than the knockdown in round 2, was the way in which, from basically the 5th round onward, Golovkin cut off the ring and bullied Stevens effectively, and was able to transition smoothly from the push of Stevens to get on the inside, to popping him as he went backwards and pounding him against the ropes.
Again fast-fowarding through Osumanu Adama, a skilled world class fighter but no match for Golovkin, I was convinced that the boxing skill, high punch output, and elusiveness of Daniel Geale would give Golovkin fits. But his impressive round 3 KO, during which time he was hit with full force in the face and still got the knockout, was I believe unprecedented in all the matches that I have watched.
From this point, on my principal concern was for the physical safety of Golovkin’s opponents. A distant second concern was wondering when they would be knocked out.
For Marco Antonio Rubio, a tough Mexican contender and arguably in the top 10 if not top 5 in the division – and yes, a 181 pound Rubio would crush Cotto in a decision or KO – I thought would take Golovkin into deep waters and Golovkin would perhaps win with a 7th or 8th round KO.
Rubio fought quite well against the gigantic Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and also against Kelly Pavlik, and if I am not mistaken did not go down against either of them. Also, he used cunning and skill to outlast and later overwhelm David Lemieux, who is currently ranked #8 by the IBO. Certainly Golovkin would be taken into deep waters by such a skilled veteran, who has proven he can take a punch and bang with the best?
Yet each time there is a major fight, Golovkin surprises me with the outcome.
Who can defeat Golovkin? Let us be honest with ourselves – no one in the middleweight division – not Miguel Cotto or Felix Sturm, Martin Murray or Matt Korobov, and he would also KO Alvarez, who hopefully will be steered away from Golovkin, and 2-3 clean punches will be enough to put the marathon runner Erislandy Lara away. The same would be true for Floyd Mayweather Jr, but really, it is an unfair fight, for Mayweather can make 140 pounds if necessary,and GGG hits like a heavyweight in the 160 pound division.
This leaves Carl Froch, Andre Ward, or Chavez Jr. Both Chavez Jr. and Froch have basically refused to fight him, Really, then, at this point, the only one worthy enough to share the ring with GGG between 154 and 168 is Ward. And who knows when and if he will ever fight again – he has hinted at retiring – which is not to say that Ward is ducking GGG, if anything the reverse is true, but it seem obvious that the outcome for anyone from 154 to 168 stepping into the ring with him (with the exception of Ward) would be a GGG KO.
At this point, GGG may well be too good for his own good. He hopefully will have another 4 or 5 years as a professional. Perhaps, ideally, he will get his chance next year and KO Cotto or Alvarez or both. But let us hope that his prime is not wasted, now that he is a legitimate draw, with excuses and cowardice from his peers. And also hope that those who go, go quickly, and without permanent injury.
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