By Chris Williams: IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin made challenger Dominic Wade his 22nd consecutive knockout victim last Saturday night in stopping him in the 2nd round at the Forum in Inglewood, California. The 34-year-old Golovkin now is fed up with taking the little known fighters.
Golovkin now wants the popular golden goose of the middleweight division in Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the flagship fighter for Golden Boy Promotions. However, Golovkin probably won’t get the Canelo fight next due to his promoters likely steering him towards a rematch with Miguel Cotto. One fight that Golovkin could take is against WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.
The 24-year-old Ramirez just won the WBO 168lb title with a one-sided 12 round decision earlier this month. Ramirez and his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank are both keen in taking the fight against Golovkin because they feel it’s a winnable one for them. However, Golovkin doesn’t see Ramirez as being a big name.
Golovkin wants someone that is already a star, not someone that is still on his way up like Ramirez. It’s too bad though because Ramirez vs. Golovkin would attract a lot of attention because it would be televised on HBO, and a lot of fans would want to see how Golovkin does against someone bigger than him like the 6’2” Ramirez. Golovkin would help make Ramirez a bigger name and this could lead to a rematch between them if the fight was competitive. I think it’s a mistake for Golovkin not to take the Ramirez fight. I think Ramirez will soon be a bigger star than Golovkin because he’s willing to take risks.
“He’s not a big name,” Golovkin said. “I want a big name,” Golovkin said to the dailynews.com about Ramirez.
Golovkin may need to be a little more open-minded when it comes to different opposition because Ramirez might prove to be the best option he has right now if Canelo doesn’t take the fight. If Canelo won’t take the fight with GGG, and if Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler can’t get WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders to agree to a fight, then Ramirez is easily the best option.
Golovkin needs to be less picky and more open to different fights if he wants to become a star. He already passed up the option of fighting former super middleweight champion Andre Ward last year. Golovkin should have taken that fight because he’d be a bigger star right now. Roy Jones Jr. of HBO pointed that out last Saturday night in saying that Golovkin made a mistake in not agreeing to fight Ward.
If Golovkin isn’t going to take chances by being flexible to move up and down in weight like we’re seeing with Canelo and from other great fighters in the past, then he’s going to wind up very soon a fighter in his late 30s and no more popular than he is right now. There’s only so much growth in popularity for Golovkin if all he’s going to be doing is fighting guys like Dominic Wade, David Lemieux, Willie Monroe and Martin Murray.
Golovkin makes it easy for guys like Canelo to ignore him because he’s not taking the fights he needs to for him to become a big enough name to where Canelo can’t ignore him. You can’t blame Canelo for not being interested in fighting Golovkin because he’s more trouble than he’s worth.
“It’s like Mike Tyson used to be,” said Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler to the dailynews.com. “It didn’t matter who he fought.”
Mike Tyson first became a star after beating some top guys earlier in his career. It was only later on that Tyson eased off with the competition. He was still bringing in a lot of fans with his fights, but it wasn’t a situation where he was stuck with nothing no name fighters. Golovkin’s situation is different. He’s been fighting no names since he turned pro, and he’s still fighting no names.
Golovkin says he wants the big names like Canelo, but he’s not doing the things he needs to do to get fighters like that to agree to fight him. Golovkin needs to take risks against guys in other weight classes like Andre Ward and Gilberto Ramirez. Once he does that, then maybe he’ll become popular enough to get the fighters like Canelo, Daniel Jacobs, Peter Quillin, and Billy Joe Saunders to fight him. Golovkin needs to start taking risks instead of playing it safe all the time and waiting like a spider for the top names to fall into his web. That’s not how it’s done.