By Jermill Pennington: I was listening to one of my favorite podcast last night (The Tale of the Tape) and one of the guys said something to the effect of “Triple G gets a “get out of jail card” until someone grows a pair and steps up to fight him.’’
While part of that statement is factual, I feel Golovkin has been given a pass on his opposition thus far. People make this assertion as if who Golovkin fights has nothing to do with him. I find that notion a bit mind-boggling as fans have always seemed to have high expectation of top level fighters. In the case of Golovkin, many seem to be quite content with him fighting a guy like Dominic Wade whom even the most well – informed fan has no idea who he is.
When I think about it I’m hard pressed to think of another fighter who’s had this luxury. Only one that comes to mind is Mike Tyson whom I constantly say was overrated due to the names on his resume. For the record I do understand phenomenon and sensation is part of sport. To add definition, the definition of phenom is a person who is outstandingly talented or admired, especially an up and comer. Tyson would surely be categorized as a phenom, and rightfully so. The way Tyson viciously went about attacking his opposition was something we hadn’t seen, and haven’t seen since. The way he would brutally knock guys out was something we don’t see very often. Golovkin on the other while being a sensation, isn’t really providing us with the jaw dropping knock outs. More so what seems to be accumulative beat downs which aren’t so must see. His highlight reel is topped by putting down Curtis Stevens, (which isn’t saying much) leaving a look on Steven’s face as if he just seen Big Foot riding a unicorn. I’m not trying to be dismissive; however I’m at the point where I have to wonder how long should Golovkin be given this pass?
It would be wrong of me to ask for solution without presenting a way of resolving this concern, that wouldn’t be very objective of me now would it? For me it’s very simple, and nothing we haven’t asked of many fighters before, start calling guys out! I was fascinated at how quickly fans seem to speak for Golovkin when Erislandy Lara called him out of numerous occasions. “He’s just trying to stay relevant, he doesn’t want any part of Gennady.” Maybe so, but why not let Gennady call Lara’s bluff before you completely dismissing it? I say it’s time for Gennady to start trolling fighters. Imagine how awesome it’d be if Gennady were to get in the ring after the next Danny Jacobs fight and call him out. I understand the promotional divide, but at some point if guys aren’t coming to you, you have to go get them. Shane Mosley found himself in a fight with Floyd Mayweather after he showed up in in Mayweather’s post fight interview and called him out. We all knew Wilder and Fury weren’t going to be fighting anytime soon, however Fury jumping in the ring after Wilder knocked out of Spilka if nothing more was great entertainment.
I know a lot of people say they don’t care what other people think, but I do. Me expressing this sentiment will cause for some Golovkinoids to call me a hater and even go as far to call me racist. I don’t want to be called either of those things. So I ask, what do you want me to do? I for one hold every fighter to this same standard. If Adrien Broner who I find entertaining fights another Ashley Theophane I will not be interested. Golovkinoids love to say Gennady wants to unify the middleweight division; I’m fine with him wanting to do that. That said you must understand that many times sitting in the same division fighting mandatories at best you end up being a Bernard Hopkins, not a Roy Jones, you end up being Marvin Hagler and not Sugar Ray Leonard. Being a Marvin Hagler is nothing to be considered less than, however there are levels to legacy, and Sugar Ray and Roy take a higher seat because they took challenges. Ali is considered the greatest because he defied odds and slayed beast, not routinely fighting guys where he’s favored 20-1.
In my estimation this upcoming fight for Golovkin has had less buzz than ones in recent memory. Though the promotion has been fantastic I get the feeling fans see this as a forgone conclusion. I think Gennady needs to start pressing the issue and putting pressure on guys to fight him. But then again, why would he? I’m told by the pundits that it’s okay that he continue to fight guys that have no chance and continue being paid millions. In conclusion I personally think Gennady is the goods but we’ll never know until he proves it. His urgency to prove himself may not be priority while he’s racking in the money fighting nobodies and fans continue to say it’s okay for him to fight the level of competition he’s fought. Fandom has never been synonymous with enabling, however in the case of Golovkin I think that is debatable.