By Gav Duthie: Once again the freight train keeps on rolling. Another stoppage win for GGG (Gennady Golovkin) who takes his record to 33-0 (30). He is quickly becoming one of the most popular fighters in the sport and has every chance to take Floyd’s P4P mantle when/if he retires in September. Whilst the Kazakhstan fighter performs well inside the ring I am now looking for his promoters, Wladimir Klitschko and K2 to perform outside of it.
Popularity
Most of the time big name fighters are criticized for not facing top opposition, up until now GGG has a reprieve from such criticism for two reasons:
1. He is an extremely active fighter, fighting 3/4 times per year
2. It is widely regarded that he is the avoided fighter not the other way around
How long this will go on for I’m not sure. At some point fans will demand big fights because it is difficult to get up for him fighting guys just inside the top 20. If he continues fighting at this level I would expect him to face opposition such as Jorge Sebastian Heiland, Sergio Mora and Sam Soliman as opposed to Cotto, Canelo, Froch etc. This might not be his fault but it is the reality.
Too many names
After the fight he called out Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather Jr. I think he and his promoters need to be realistic about their options and concentrate on one top opponent rather than calling out everyone. Its fine letting everyone know you want the big names but K2 need to start concentrating on a tangible opponent and get it over the line.
My Pick – Carl Froch
I would set my sights on Froch simply because ‘The Cobra’ has only two options Golovkin or retirement. Froch wants a big fight in America, Las Vegas in particular and now that Chavez is off the agenda Golovkin is the only viable option. Froch-DeGale wouldn’t be anywhere near Groves and he doesn’t want Ward or Andre Dirrell in rematches. We are told it is highly likely he will retire but he is holding off on this so perhaps he could be persuaded by Golovkin. Either way they will know if he really fancies it or if he wants to retire.
Other Options
Floyd Mayweather – You can forget this one. Mayweather is not going to take a huge risk like this for his last fight. Golovkin has said he can get down to 154lbs and that might be true but we have no evidence of this. Floyd’s last bout will be a showcase event but it won’t involve GGG.
Canelo/Cotto – I’m grouping these guys together because they would rther fight each other of Golovkin. It makes sense for Canelo and Cotto to fight each other first. They are more naturally closer in weight and they would probably make more money also.
160lb division – As per usual I am bemused at the WBA not ordering a fight between their Super and Regular champion. Daniel Jacobs has said he would fight Golovkin in the past and this would be a good fight. Of course I would expect GGG to win again but this would be a step up.
The future
Golovkin has said his next fight will be in September and he wants to squeeze a fourth fight in before the end of the year. I really hope that one of these two bouts is against a big name opponent, whoever that may be.
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