Golovkin is too big for Mayweather

By Bob Smith - 08/08/2015 - Comments

golovkin45By Bob Smith: With the final fight of Floyd Mayweather Jr’s career fast approaching, and with the news that he selected Andre Berto, many in the commentary business are treating the match with scorn, suggesting that it is an obvious mismatch, that Mayweather is cherry picking again, and that he is too scared to fight Amir Khan (who is supposedly too fast), Keith Thurman (a hungry lion with power and boxing skill) or Kell Brook (boxing skill, undefeated).

Some even suggest that a match with Tim Bradley Jr.  would be better (which it would be, by the way). But the most common suggestion is that Mayweather fight WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin at a catch-weight of about 154 pounds.

This obviously creates a dilemma for Mayweather. If he says “Golovkin is too big” well, then, no not really, for he did fight Alvarez at 154 pounds, and Alvarez is roughly the same size as Golovkin. So how then can he discriminate against Golovkin, very obviously a high risk fight for him, when that is the fight that the boxing public wants most of all, and would be his biggest current challenge. It is important to keep in mind that Golovkin is at a minimum #4 on the ESPN pound for pound list, but as there is very little difference between #2 and #4, could arguably be considered the #2 fighter pound for pound.

Well, though Mayweather is the best pound for pound fighter in the world, he is essentially being more of a businessman and showman rather than a boxer on this one. The obvious dishonesty charge is unavoidable – if he claims to be the best boxer on the planet, and the #2 (or #4) boxer on the planet calls him out for years, and contests to fight at his weight, and he has already taken fights at this weight before, then he can only be a hypocrite for refusing the fight, when taken on boxing alone.

However, though he may face legitimate criticism for this, I personally am not one to make such claims. For instance, it is true that he started at 130 pounds at super featherweight. Why then should he be required to not only ascend and defeat all lightweight champions (135), junior welterweight (140), welterweight (147), junior middleweight (154), and then, just to make sure not one is unhappy with him, defeat the best middleweight in the world, who is so amazing and intimidating that all of the other top middleweights would not dare to fight him, when he is 38 years old, past his prime, and has just defeated conclusively his major rival for nearly half a decade.

Honestly, it seems like a lot of damn insolence from Dan Rafael, who is very obese and out of shape and could not last more than a minute or two against a third tier boxer anywhere from light heavyweight and up, even though he undoubtedly is a heavyweight by weight. To be fair, he is not the only one making these ridiculous demands, and he is the best boxing journalist in the world. But come on, considering the scope of the career of Mayweather it is pure sadism to suggest that he fight Golovkin, a peak middleweight in his prime who punches like a heavyweight. He would get severely hurt within six rounds and will get broken ribs or a knockout, and there is no reason that a fighter who originally started out at 130 pounds should attempt to fight a heavyweight level puncher.

There is one small counterargument however. Golovkin also started smaller – he started at junior welterweight in the amateurs, and moved up as Mayweather did. So, when Mayweather started fighting in the late 90s at 130, Golovkin started in the late 90s at 140. Not so much of a difference now is it?

However, having said that, in his professional career, and later Olympic career, he was always at middleweight, and even fought and defeated Andre Dirrell in the 2004 Olympics. (Dirrell is now a super middleweight).

So my point of view is this. It is true that Golovkin would destroy Mayweather in under six rounds. Mayweather is the best fighter in the world p4p, and Golovkin in my view is #2. But, the principal issue is not this, but rather the demand that Mayweather fight any junior middleweight at all. Let us recall that he has only fought at light middleweight two times – first, against Miguel Cotto, who was obviously a big draw, but is also someone who moved up in weight from 140. This was a legitimate challenge, and he was and is respected for defeating Cotto at 154. He also had a very good point that he considered Miguel Cotto an “undefeated fighter” when he fought him, for Cotto at that point had only lost to Margarito who cheated and also Pacquio at a catch weight.

He defended this title only once, against Canelo, who though a good fighter, because of his orthodox stance, was the perfect fighter for Mayweather to fight because his timing is quite predictable even though his power is real. Also, he has always been a bit of a hype job and this fight, while a significant challenge for Mayweather, was one that I always knew he would win.

So, then, he never has been a real junior middleweight at all. First, he defeated Cotto, who was a smaller guy who came up to 154; next, he fought a lion coming into his prime, and who is arguably the best fighter in the division not named Floyd Mayweather. This is all, and he has no reason to prove anything more. To suggest that just because a middleweight with ferocious power can make weight and then rehydrate to 165 plus means nothing, he is not really a junior middleweight to begin with at all, and neither is Floyd. Thus, any talk of catch weights should not make sense.

Why then does Mayeather not fight “a real fighter” such as Khan, Thurman, Bradley, or Brook? While I do agree that all of these would be more competitive fights than he now has against Berto, at the same time Mayweather has nothing to prove and none of the above fighters will be much of a challenge anyways. Mayweather wants to look good on his way out, and Berto is athletic and fast, and there is a good chance Mayweather can get a knockout. I personally am one that thinks that he will retire after this fight, as he is very disciplined (images and PR aside) and has simply lost the drive for the sport. I think that his reason will trump his vanity – there is no need fora 50th fight to break some record, his legacy speaks for itself.
So, let us as fans stop whining (or maybe never even start) and enjoy seeing Mayweather dominate an athletic but over-matched Berto. There is no need to pay for the fight if you do not want to, it will be on you tube on the next day – but it should be exciting, and a fun way for him to ride off into the sunset.
Peace.



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