By Sean Jones: Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin has suffered a right calf injury, which will further delay the title defense of his IBF middleweight belt against mandatory Kamil Szeremeta until May or possibly June. According to ESPN, Golovkin’s management will be looking to get an extension from the International Boxing Federation to defend against Szeremeta at the later date.
GGG’s title defense against Szeremeta delayed
Golovkin’s title defense against Szeremeta (21-0, 5 KOs) has continually been pushed back in recent months. The original plans were for the fight to take place on February 29, but then the fight was moved to March 28, and then April 11. But it now looks like it may not happen until May or June.
Boxing fans see the Szeremeta fight as a useless one for Golovkin, as it’s not a contest that they’re interested in. But it’s a fight that does serve a purpose. It’s a relatively safe one for the 37-year-old Golovkin, and it enables him to hold a bargaining piece to help increase his chances for the third contest against Canelo Alvarez for September. That’s the match that GGG badly wants, as does DAZN.
Golovkin will be turning 38 in April, and his last fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko last October was far from an easy one for him. GGG was forced to battle hard to win a close 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 115-112, 115-112 and 114-113.
Needless to say, the decision wasn’t a popular one for GGG, as the boxing fans booed him at ringside. After a bad start in round one, Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs) appeared to take over the fight, and outwork GGG the rest of the way. In the 5th, Derevyanchenko hurt Golovkin with a body shot and came close to knocking him down.
GGG won’t be training at SNAC facility
Golovkin won’t be training at Victor Conte’s SNAC facility any longer. After just a brief period of time training there, GGG will be moving on.
“I asked him to leave our facilities because he did not comply with what we had agreed before the camp began,” said Conte to ESPN.com about Golovkin.
It’s unknown if Golovkin wasn’t able to physically perform the training exercises that they wanted at the SNAC facility due to his calf problem or if he wasn’t willing to do what they asked of him.
Wherever Golovkin ends up, his conditioning needs work, as he’s looked tired in the later rounds of his fights against Canelo and Derevyanchenko. That could be a sign of Golovkin needing to move up to 168, but it also could be age.
GGG’s drained appearance when making weight for his fights seems to suggest that it’s become harder for him to make the 160-lb weight limit. The problem with Golovkin moving up to 168 is the fact that he would be out-sized by the likes of Callum Smith, David Benavidez, Caleb Plant, and Billy Joe Saunders. Golovkin’s lack of size would be a problem for him potentially in fighting against those type of guys. Unlike Canelo, GGG isn’t hard to hit with shots.