By @BoxingMuse: Gennady Golovkin, Kazakhstan’s God of War, demolished the underrated, albeit overmatched Willie Monroe, Jr. at the The Forum in California last month. As soon as the fight was over fight fans began to wonder and suggest who the KO artist should and could face next. Although match ups against boxing’s biggest stars such as Carl Froch, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Andre Ward and Miguel Cotto are desirable and possible, at this moment in time, they are not feasible for a number various reasons, which I won’t get into.
However there are a handful of names in and around the middleweight division that would make for an interesting bout.
Firstly, Erislandy Lara, the sublimely skilled Cuban has shown interest in the fight, however he has to overcome former Cotto victim, Delvin Rodríguez this weekend. Lara is expected to win therefore a fight with Gennady seems plausible. The weight may be an issue seeing as Lara is a career long light-middleweight however if he took the leap to 160lbs, the tricky southpaw could present Golovkin with some challenges. Although Monroe was a southpaw I believe Lara is far superior in terms of boxing IQ. The only men to have beaten Lara are Canelo and Williams, both decisions were questionable. Could the Cuban test GGG or would it be another KO?
Secondly, Arthur Abraham, a name that may come as a surprise to many. People tend to forget Arthur spent a lot of his career at middleweight before stepping up to 168lbs for the super six tournament. Although the Armenian didn’t look too impressive in his first fight with tough Englishman Paul Smith, the rematch showed a motivated and in shape Abraham is a force to be reckoned with. King Arthur is set to face rival Robert Stieglitz on the 18th of next month for the fourth time. Providing Arthur makes is 3-1 to him in their series of fights then a bout against GGG could be possible. Again, the weight may be a problem, I don’t believe Abraham could make 160lbs anymore but with all these catch weights going on in the sport at the moment, a meeting between the two is possible. The brute strength and toughness of Abraham is something GGG has not yet encountered as a professional. Tom Loeffler and Sauerland need to organise this.
David Lemieux, the big punching Canadian may well be the hardest hitter behind GGG in the division. He has expressed interest in fighting the Kazak although he has no easy task ahead of him on the 19th of this month when he faces Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam for Jermain Taylor’s old IBF belt. Fight fans are not quick to forget his 7th round stoppage loss in 2011 to a prime Marco Antonio Rubio, which may illustrate how GGG’s power could get to him. However, the Canadian is much improved since then and may have an equaliser for Gennady, his own power.
Although Sakio Bika is a career long super-middleweight and even competed in his last bout at light-heavyweight for the WBC & Ring Light-heavyweight belts against Stevenson, I believe the teak tough Cameroonian would provide a unique test for Golovkin. Bika is just under 6ft tall and is one of the toughest boxers I have seen in a ring for the last 10 years would undoubtedly bring pressure, strength and a chin that Gennady has never witnessed. Yes, Sakio has lost a 7 times (1 DQ) but those names were all either world class such as Soliman and Bute or greats of the sport such as Ward and Calzaghe. The fight would have to be at super-middleweight but if no-other middleweight’s want to step up to challenge GGG then he may have to leave his middleweight belts behind for a while and take on a super-middleweight such as Bika.
It is possible that Golovkin fights a lesser name at middleweight until the situation with Cotto and Canelo is clearer. However, personally I would love to see any of these fights listed here. To be completely blunt and honest there are number of legitimate middleweights who I feel do not want the fight with GGG such as Daniel Jacobs, Peter Quillin and Jermall Charlo. On the other hand, little known Tureano Johnson may well be in the mix for fight with GGG.
What is your opinion on the potential opponents for Golovkin, are there any realistic names I have missed out or any fighters that you can see facing him next. Follow and tweet me @BoxingMuse and tell me your opinion.
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