By Bob Smith: At times there are great match ups between world class fighters that unfortunately because one fighter has a major advantage – speed, power, combinations, defense – are complete blow outs. Some recent examples are Williams-Martinez, Guerrero-Mayweather, Juan Manuel Marquez-Mayweather, and Julio Caesar Chavez-Martinez.
Unfortunately, for Macklin, his fight with Golovkin in late June will be such a fight – Golovkin is simply too powerful a puncher and too skilled a fighter for Macklin, and the come forward style of Macklin and his fearlessness will be his downfall.
Having said this, Macklin is and will continue to be one of the elite middleweights. He was robbed against Felix Sturm and did quite well against Martinez in his title match up. I hope that he gets another title shot against this, or a shot Canelo in the next year or two, a fighter he would crush.
But it is time for Golovkin to receive his due acclaim. He has the highest KO percentage of any middleweight boxer in 124 years, and has had 400 amateur and professional fights and has not been knocked down or out a single time; his losses in the amateurs were miniscule, about a dozen or so. He spars with cruiserweights and light heavyweights because middleweight sparring partners largely cannot handle his punches at 50-60% power.
Yet does he get the press of a Golden Boy media darling like Broner or Canelo? Not at all! Arguably, he has the potential to be the best middleweight since Marvelous Marvin Hagler (with the exception of Roy Jones Jr. or Bernard Hopkins), a fighter who he stylistically resembles, and he will prove it in less than 30 days. He is underrated in the same way that Mares was underrated before the Ponce de Leon fight or the way that Rigondeaux is still underrated even after his brilliant victory against Donaire.
This will be not be an easy fight for Golovkin, and Macklin will have his moments and may even hurt or overwhelm Golovkin at times. But after Golovkin passes this test with a KO of Macklin in the middle to late middle rounds, he should be and will be accepted into the boxing elite of popular culture, as opposed to being a hyped but semi-well kept secret among boxing fans. This will be good for him and good for the sport.
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