By Dan Ambrose: It’s generally understood that WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (32-0, 29 KOs) will be applying a great deal of pressure on his opponent #2 WBA Willie Monroe (19-1, 6 KOs) this Saturday night in their fight on HBO Championship Boxing at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
The 33-year-old Golovkin is a seek and destroy type of fighter who does his best when he’s putting pressure on his opponents. However, Monroe thinks that Golovkin could be going down the wrong street if he tries to put pressure on him because he’ll make him pay for his aggressive fighting style by nailing him with counter shots all night long.
Monroe isn’t a strong puncher, and it’s hard to picture him being able to turn back Golovkin’s attacks with his shots. Monroe will likely be able to land counter shots in this fight, but if Golovkin doesn’t respect his power, then he’s going to stay on top of him and land his big power shots.
Monroe will be trying to move frequently, but Golovkin is good at cutting off the ring on his opponents. Monroe is not going to be able to get away from Golovkin no matter how much he moves in this fight.
“He [Golovkin] can come in there and see if he could pressure me and that might be his demise or he may try to go tactical and go mind for mind and that may be his demise also because I’m a very intelligent person,” Monroe said to Fighthype.com. “But I’ll prove all of that come Saturday.”
It sounds like Monroe believes that Golovkin is in trouble no matter what he does in this fight. I think it would work out well for Monroe if he had the kind of punching power that would bother Golovkin, but I don’t think Monroe is any more powerful than Golovkin’s last opponent Martin Murray.
Golovkin’s sparring partners have better punching power than Monroe. He’s probably not going to be bothered by anything that Monroe throws in this fight because he doesn’t have the power to make Golovkin respect him.
“I think I am more complete than just a slick fighter, but I’m okay with that,” Monroe said. “The less they know about me and the less that they want to take into consideration is better for me. It’s the element of surprise.”
It’s doubtful that Golovkin and his trainer Abel Sanchez will be surprised by anything that Monroe does in this fight. Obviously, they’ve watched tape on him and know what his tendencies are. Besides that, Golovkin has faced guys like Monroe in the past when he fought in the Olympics in facing the likes of Andre Dirrell. Golovkin did well against Dirrell.
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