Has Gennady Golovkin brought racism to boxing?

By Boxing News - 04/26/2016 - Comments

1-golovkin-gonzalez (12)By Jermill Pennington: Not his fault of course, however in recent memory I can’t recall a time where race has been brought in to boxing conversations so regularly. For some time now I’ve tried to wrap my mind around this new, weird notion in boxing that implies if you criticize Gennady your either a “Flomo”(not exactly sure what being a Mayweather fan has to do with it, but I’m not the one making these accusations) or a racist.

Some of the more known pundits of the sport (I won’t call you out by name but I should) use other loose terms to point out this sect of fan such as “those people” or “that particular group.” All this beating around the bush to avoid what can easily be said as Black fans don’t like Golovkin because he’s white.

Two things I find offensive about that, one, you’re putting words in the mouth of others, and two, I see this as a way to discredit and undermine my opinion. Another aspect I find fascinating is the privilege that comes to a white guy who shares the same views about Golovkin that “those people” have, he’s not called racist and is expressing the exact sentiment. How that works you’d have to explain to me. In all honesty I have never heard a black guy say he doesn’t like Golovkin on any format whether it be twitter or podcast, more so what’s always said is “he aint fought nobody,” and that my friends is just the truth.

Before I go any further as I always do I will now address Mr. Obvious in hopes of his redundant rhetorical questioning being as minimal as possible. Yes, boxing has a long history of having racial undertones going back as far as fighters such as John L. Sullivan refusing to defend his title against black fighters. Jim Jefferies being called back in to the ring to fight Jack Johnson to defend the white race.

I am aware of the racial implications that Joe Louis faced in his two legendary fights versus Max Schmeling and what those fights meant to the world. I understand that terms like “white hope” have been used historically to market fights to the more casual consumer. Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney was able to do big numbers given the “white hope” label though the in ring competition didn’t live up to the hype. Even Tommy “the Duke” Morrison leading in to this fight versus Lennox Lewis carried the “white hope” marker. These things taken in to consideration one could say that racial divide is as much a part of boxing as anything else.

I’m 33 years old, that said my time of being able to personally interpret the boxing landscape has span over what I deem as two eras, those being the De La Hoya era and the Mayweather/Pacquiao era. In that time I don’t remember there being much talk of race. In those days it seemed one was free to like or dislike whoever you wanted and not be called a racist. Then again I don’t recall many white fighters being competitive in that time.

Since Gennady has come on the scene there seems to be a new fan in boxing which is good for the sport. One thing I notice about “these people” is that they have some kind of chip on his shoulder. Armed with academic vernacular and a thirst for debate they take to social media looking to devour anyone who dare utter a bad word about Golovkin.

Their passion in defense of Golovkin would seem as though he’s a relative or a close friend to their family. On Twitter I have learned if you are black and criticize Golovkin for his lack of competition, you will be called a racist. It’s fascinating because Golovkin is the only fighter this stereotype comes in to play with. I can say I hate Canelo or Amir Khan and no one calls me a racist. People are free to hate Mayweather’s guts and not be called a racist, so why with Golovkin is the “R” word so readily tossed around?

I can’t answer this question, seems his fans want to throw the “R” word around for what to me are valid criticisms. Should he be held responsible for the competition not stepping up? I don’t think so. However I do believe he could be putting more pressure on his promoter as well other fighters to step up and make a fight.

As what putting more pressure on people encompasses can be left to the imagination, but relying on sanctioning bodies to get you a fights seems to be a futile course of action. My suggestion is to take a page from the book of Shannon Briggs. Public trash talk lends to public demand, to me that is what Gennady has to do to shut the mouths of all naysayers.
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