By Ryan Wardle: Gennady Golovkin ( 25-0, 22 KOs) is the current WBA middleweight champion and is set to defend his title against Nobuhiro Ishida ( 24-8-2, 9 KOs) on March 30th. After this fight Golovkin plans to get back on an HBO televised card, in a bigger and more challenging fight.
The problem that Golovkin runs into is that he is one of the most avoided fighters in all of boxing. This makes it challenging for him to line up a unification bout, or a big fight that would help to propel him to the next level.
Golovkin is coming off of a successful title defense against Gabriel Rosado (21-6, 13 KOs), Golovkin pummeled Rosado for the duration of the fight, and a cut over Rosado’s left eye prompted his corner to call a stop to the bout in the 7th round. Golovkin is a very technically skilled boxer who has had 350 amateur fights. He has very heavy hands and is a calm fighter who makes few mistakes in the ring.
Golovkin’s biggest criticism is that he doesn’t use enough head movement, making it an easy target for another skilled fighter. His chin has also not been tested, as anyone with the skills or power to test it has not yet gotten into the ring with him.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. ( 46-1-1, 32 KOs) was defeated for the first time in his last outing. Sergio Martinez easily outpointed Chavez Jr. last September, although Chavez Jr. did score a knockdown in the 12th round and looked like he could have had a chance to score a knockout. After the fight he failed a post-fight drug test for marijuana and will likely serve a suspension for the rules violation.
Chavez Jr. constantly crowds his opponents during his fights and rarely takes a step backwards, he hits very hard and often enters the ring looking like he is a weight class above his opponents. He showed in his most recent fight that he can withstand punishment, as he ate left and right hands from Martinez for the first 11 rounds of the fight.
If Golovkin fought Chavez Jr. using technical skills and maintained at least some distance between the two he stands a chance to defeat the Mexican fighter. If he were to decide to stand toe to toe with the much larger Chavez Jr, then Golovkin’s lack of head movement will work against him and his chin will certainly be tested by Chavez Jr.’s power.
The fight could face hold-ups such as Chavez Jr. first having to serve his suspension then wanting a rematch with Sergio Martinez and the age old excuse of Golovkin first having to build his name up before Chavez Jr. would face him.
No matter what the case is, a fight between these two men has all the ingredients to make an epic bout at middleweight. Both fighters are exciting, hard hitting pressure fighters who are not afraid to hit or be hit. If the fight can’t be made in 2013, then it must be made for early 2014.
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