By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Kenny Porter sees IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) badly beating Golden Boy Promotion’s money fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) when that fight eventually happens one of these days. Porter thinks that Golovkin will totally school the 26-year-old Canelo, and he compares the mismatch in the same way he does with the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo fight from 2013.
Mayweather had a ridiculously easy 12 round decision win over Canelo, who could do little more than throw left hooks that missed by a mile all night long. Canelo looked amateurish in the fight, and he got red in the face and tired very quickly.
Porter, the father of former IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter, is familiar with Golovkin from back in the amateur system. Kenny was one of the boxing coaches for the USA amateur team, and Golovkin was tearing through the competition with ease. Porter was very impressed what he saw from Golovkin, and he feels he’s very talented. Despite his admiration for Golovkin, he’s not picking a winner of his March 18th fight against WBA World 160lb champion Danny Garcia on HBO PPV from Madison Square Garden in New York. Porter says he wants Jacobs to win the fight, but he’s still not sure who to pick in that match-up.
Kenny said this to Fighthype.com about Golovkin, Canelo and Jacobs:
“No, Canelo doesn’t beat him,” said Kenny Porter when asked if Canelo can beat Golovkin. “I think it’s a lot like when [Floyd] Mayweather fought Canelo. He’ll school that kid. That’s my thoughts. I think it’s the overall boxing ability [of Golovkin]. I always knew he was legit from the amateur system. He beat a lot of our guys from team USA in the amateurs. He’s always been a legitimate guy. There are questions whether he’s the real deal. He has the goods. He has the ability, the skill level. Everything is there. Just like everything else, everyone wants him to take on tougher challenges. When that happens, people are going to continue to ask questions. So he’s for real. I’m pulling for my man, Danny [Jacobs] in this fight. At this point, I can’t make a decision in who I see winning the fight, because I want to go back and compare it to something Danny has done in his last two fights to what he’s going to be dealing with against Triple G. But I know he’s going to come out. He’s going to be ready. I know his trainers are going to have him prepared. He’s going to be ready, so check back with me in a few weeks. We’re eight weeks out. I’m pulling for Danny in this one,” said Porter.
You have to agree with Kenny about Golovkin absolutely schooling Canelo Alvarez when/if that fight takes place. At this point, I think Golovkin destroys Canelo even if Golden Boy waits until he’s in his 50s. I think Golovkin will always be able to beat a limited fighter like Canelo, who can’t fight hard for more than one or two minutes each round without needing rest breaks. Canelo’s habit of needing frequent rest breaks will doom him against Golovkin. You don’t take rest breaks against Golovkin against the ropes unless you want to be knocked out.
Kell Brook, the last guy that Golovkin fought, knew better than to stay in one place for any length of time against him. Brook was on his bike for the first four rounds. However, after Golovkin trapped Brook against the ropes in the 5th, he hurt him with a body shot. That was basically when Brook just quit. He was mentally and physically broken and no longer willing to fight back. The fight was over 20 seconds later after Golovkin had hammered Brook with a number of hard shots that led to the towel being thrown into the ring by his trainer Dominic Ingle. Canelo doesn’t have the defensive skills or the boxing ability that Brook has. Canelo also has very short and slow feet. He’s not going to be able to run from Golovkin like Brook was doing in the first four rounds of the fight.
If Canelo goes to the ropes against Golovkin, I think the fight could end in one or two rounds at best. For Canelo’s sake, he needs to stay off the ropes early in the fight, because a fresh Golovkin will turn him into another Marco Antonio Rubio by knocking him out immediately. The thing is, Canelo needs rest breaks almost always, and he’s not going to be able to fight for long without needing his first rest break of 20 to 30 seconds against the ropes.
Few boxing fans believe that Golden Boy will dare putting their golden goose Canelo in the ring with Golovkin in 2017. They believe that Golden Boy will milk easy fights for Canelo with them matching him against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in May, Billy Joe Saunders in September and then Miguel Cotto for December. I think Golden Boy will keep a close eye on Golovkin to see if he’s starting to look like he’s vulnerable due his advancing age.
If Golovkin is starting to look shot, then I think the fight will be made between Canelo and Golovkin in May 2018. Unlike now, Golovkin will get a percentage deal against Canelo. The fact that Golden Boy is offering Golovkin just a flat fee is really telling. It’s a strong indication that they’re not interested in making the fight right now between Canelo and Golovkin. However, it definitely helps Canelo’s PPV buys for Golden Boy to continue to mention Golovkin as someone that will be facing Canelo in September. As long as the boxing fans think that the Canelo-Golovkin fight is just around the corner, I think that’s going to keep Canelo’s PPV numbers in at least the 300,000 range, even against the over-matched opposition that Golden Boy is feeding to Canelo.
In speaking about Golovkin, Porter said, “He beat us [in the amateurs]. He beat us easy, and he beat us bad. We had guys that fought him, and they came back to the corner discouraged, dejected. We as trainers and coaches, we knew if we drew him what we were dealing with. He was just that good, and he beat some very, very talented guys from Team USA. I don’t think it’s one thing that stands out. It’s all things he does, and he makes it look so easy. He doesn’t appear to be working hard at all,” said Kenny Porter about Golovkin.
Golovkin won the silver medal in the 2004 Olympics. He lost to Russian fighter Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov by a 28-18 score. Golovkin appeared to win the fight, which was little more than a wrestling match, but the judges weren’t scoring many of the shots that Golovkin landed. The referee did little to stop the wrestling from Gaydarbekov. He was holding, shoving and using a throwing method to throw Golovkin to the side when the two were in a clinch. The referee didn’t do anything to stop these moves from Gaydarbekov, and it was hard to fight to watch because it wasn’t boxing. It was like a wrestling match due to Gaydarbekov constantly grabbing Golovkin to keep him from throwing punches and then throwing him to the side. If Jacobs wants a great fight strategy to try and beat Golovkin, he might want to try and copy what Gaydarbekov was doing against him. Golovkin had no way of dealing with the nonstop wrestling.
