(Photo credit: Team Golovkin) By Thomas Cowan: This Saturday, highly-rated power puncher Gennady Golovkin defends his WBA middleweight belt against Britain’s Matthew Macklin. Golovkin hasn’t exactly faced the best opponents in the division but that could be because he’s being avoided due to his fearsome power. Of the 26 opponents he has faced, he’s stopped 23 and nobody has gone the distance with him for just over 5 years.
Macklin has lost 2 out of his last 3 fights but those losses have come against world class opposition. He lost a split decsion to Felix Sturm in a fight many thought Macklin edged and then he put up of good fight against Sergio Martinez and dropped the Argentinian in the 7th, before Martinez overpowered Macklin to force an 11th round stoppage.
This is a great fight for Golovkin because it ticks all the boxes. Golovkin wanted a top 10 opponent to prove himself against and it’s fair to say Macklin fits that category. Golovkin has also been calling out Sergio Martinez with no luck and if he can easily beat an opponent that Martinez struggled against, there will be more pressure on Maravilla to take that fight.
According to Golovkin, Lou DiBella, who promotes Macklin and Martinez, has told him that if he can beat Macklin, then he’ll get the fight against Martinez. I really don’t see that happening. Martinez has been knocked down in all of his last 3 fights and his opponents, Macklin, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Martin Murray can’t punch anywhere near as hard as Golovkin. Murray, albiet unofficially due to one knockdown being ruled a slip, had Martinez down twice and he’s not a big puncher at all. A prime Martinez against Golovkin would have been a fantastic fight but I can only see that fight going one way if it happens in 2014.
Some people see this fight being very one-sided but Macklin is more experienced against top class opponents at professional level and that could help him if the fight goes into the later rounds. Macklin is also probably in the last chance saloon in terms of world titles and that always makes a fighter dangerous. Both fighters like to trade, so stylistically this is a great match-up. Golovkin should probably stop Macklin but the challenger does have a chance in this fight.
Prediction – Golovkin stops Macklin in the 9th round of a brutal war.
On the undercard, giant 6ft 4in IBO super middleweight champion defends his minor title against Brandon Gonzales. Oosthuizen is unbeaten in 22 fights, the one blip on his record being a draw with light heavyweight contender Isaac Chilemba. He was offered a fight against IBF champion Carl Froch in 2012 but the South African’s team chose to reject that offer. Whether that was due to a disagreement over money or if Oosthuizen’s team didn’t think he was ready, I’m not sure. The best opponents on his record are Rowland Bryant and Fulgenico Zuniga, both of whom he beat by comfortable decisions.
Gonzales isn’t really a step down from those two opponents, but he’s certainly not a step up either. His 17-0 record is full of poor opponents, I saw him fight Ghanaian journeyman Ossie Duran in 2011, and I thought Duran was extremely unlucky to lose a split decision. Gonzales is way too easy to hit and doesn’t have the talent to compete at the top level.
If Oosthuizen gets the win, he needs to step up and face someone like Edwin Rodriguez or James DeGale.
Prediction – Oosthuizen wins by a wide decision
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