What a great Golovkin must do

By Michael Vena - 04/27/2016 - Comments

1-Golovkin_Wade_AY1J4910By Yannis Mihanos: Last Saturday night IBF/IBO/WA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) made easy work of little known Dominic Wade (19-1, 12 KOs) in stopping him in the 2nd at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Golovkin’s performance last weekend performance proved for one more time that he is one gear ahead of his competitors in the middleweight division.

Golovkin now stays there like a lone wolf waiting to devour his next opponent.

Many all-time greats have gone up and down in weight for the chance to fight with the best. This is something that has happened and will keep happening.

For example, we see now that Andre Ward has gone up the scales so he can face stronger opponents. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather went up in weight many times to secure their position to stardom and greatness.

If there are no great fights out there, you make them happen, you shift, you transcend into different weight sizes like trousers. You do whatever necessary to become an all-time great.

It’s not just Saul Canelo Alvarez out there for Golovkin, there are many others waiting but in different weight divisions. That’s the inconvenient truth.

To me this is just inevitable, no top star will accept his terms yet. No top star will accept to go up or down the scales just to take a beating and lose more money. Canelo and his team will not, they are not that stupid.

Golovkin and his team must think wisely. Great fighters risk. They risk and they compromise in order to get chances for great things.

Only if Golovkin shifts in different weights more often will become number 1 pound for pound in boxing. He still makes good money where he is at today but for bigger exposure and recognition this is the way.

Even Canelo when he agreed to face Mayweather at 22, in the weigh in looked so unnaturally gaunt, it was a big struggle for him to go down so many pounds in weight but he did that just for the opportunity. And although he lost, nothing changed with his popularity, actually it got even bigger.

There is a prize to pay to become great, chances don’t come always to you the way you would like. That’s a fact of life.