Results: Golovkin smashes Szeremeta

By Boxing News - 12/19/2020 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Kamil Szeremeta (21-1, 5 KOs) proved to be no match for IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) on Friday night, as he sliced through him like butter in stopping him in the seventh round.

Szeremeta looked like the equivalent of cannon-fodder for Golovkin with the way that he was raked with huge shots from the body to head, sending him down on the canvas four times.

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The fight started badly for Szeremeta with him walking into a left hook from Golovking that dropped him in the first round, and things got worse from that point on. Szeremeta also went down in the second, fourth, and seventh rounds.

GGG agrees with the stoppage

“I respect Kamil’s trainer and corner; they’re very smart because, you know, he was done. Come on, guys. I felt my jab, my power, my timing,” said Golovkin.

Szeremeta lacked the power

It looked like Golovkin could have knocked Szeremeta out at any time he wanted, but he chose to keep him around for practice purposes.

Image: Results: Golovkin smashes Szeremeta

Each time Golovkin would hurt Szeremeta, he backed off and chose not to go for the finish the way normal fighters would. As a result, Szeremeta lasted six rounds longer than he should have.

Szeremeta didn’t have the firepower needed for him to compete. He didn’t possess the defense or the chin to give it interesting with Golovkin The Polish fighter came into the match with Golovkin seen as a long shot by the odds-makers. They turned out to be correct with their assessment.

It would have been interesting if Golovkin faced Sergiy Derevyanchenko in a rematch on Friday night rather than the light-hitting inexperienced Szeremeta.

At least if Golovkin had fought Derevyanchenko again, he could show the boxing world if he’d improved since last year. Additionally, GGG could clear up the controversy surrounding his win over him, which many fans viewed as a robbery.

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You got to give Szeremeta some credit for taking the punishment from Golovkin and not quitting. Szeremeta was trying his best, but he was too pedestrian level in terms of talent to make a real fight of it.

The win for Golovkin will help put pressure on Canelo Alvarez for him to face him on Cinco de Mayo next year. Obviously, it would have helped if Golovkin had taken on a better fighter than Szeremeta, but this is the guy that the IBF gave a #1 ranking to.

You cant blame Golovkin for the IBF ranking a fighter so unequipped to be fighting in the upper tier of the middleweight division.

Golovkin improved from layoff

“If I’m Canelo right now, I’m thinking about Smith,” said Gabe Rosado when asked if Canelo is considering a potential fight with Golovkin. “He obviously wants to put on a good performance.

“He wants to beat [Callum] Smith because the trilogy fight is a big fight, but he’s got his hands full tomorrow with Smith. He’s a great fighter and a great champion as well. So we’ll see what happens.

Image: Results: Golovkin smashes Szeremeta

“I think the layoff benefited him because GGG is already experienced. He’s been a champion for years now; he knows what he has to do. He knows how to take care of his body; he’s been training, he’s been staying sharp.

“So a lot of fighters have done this in the past. Floyd Mayweather Jr came back from a long layoff and looked like he never left.

“So that’s Golovkin, he knows what he’s doing. I was just impressed that at 38, he looked so sharp. He looked like the GGG of old; he didn’t slow down one bit,” said Rosado.

Golovkin’s physique looks better than it has in the last six years, but his opponent Szeremeta was too poor to show whether he’s improved. For GGG to show if he’s improved, he would need to beat someone like Canelo, Demetrius Andrade, Jermall Charlo, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Callum Smith, or Edger Berlanga.

GGG vs. Canelo vs. Smith winner = huge fight

“Absolutely,” said Rosado when told that the best thing for GGG for business and for the fans is a fight against Canelo. “Even the winner of Canelo and Smith.

“If Smith comes out and pulls off that win, which would be huge, imagine a GGG and Smith. We’ll see what happens,” said Rosado.

Image: Results: Golovkin smashes Szeremeta

“GGG looked fantastic. “I’m looking forward to the fight tomorrow because of Smith and Canelo. You know, Canelo is a great fighter; he went up all the way to 175 to beat Kovalev.

“So I don’t think the size advantage [for Callum Smith] is so much of an advantage. Smith has just got to fight a disciplined fight, use that jab, and use his range.

“One thing that Smith did in the Ryder fight was he would cover up and hunch down a bit and give up his height, and he exposes his body.

“I think Canelo is probably the best body puncher in boxing right now. So Smith can’t do that in this fight,” said Rosado.

It’s doubtful that Golovkin would agree to face Callum Smith if he comes out victorious against Canelo on Saturday night because it would be a big step up for GGG.

Canelo trilogy is a longshot for GGG

He’s not shown interest in moving up to 168 to take on super middleweights, and I can’t see him suddenly wanting to make that step against a big fighter like Smith.

Image: Results: Golovkin smashes Szeremeta

With the rematch clause that Canelo has for the fight with Callum, it means that if he beats the Mexican star tonight, we’re going to see a rematch between them. Canelo isn’t going to let Callum take off and fight GGG without trying to avenge the loss.

Canelo is the only one that Golovkin would consider fighting of those two, and he’s not the decider on whether that match takes place. It’s Canelo, the A-side, that will decide if he wants to fight Golovkin or not.

Everything that Canelo has said in the last few weeks would suggest that he won’t fight Golovkin anytime soon, if ever. Canelo wants to unify the 168lb division, and that’s not going to happen quickly.

Canelo will need to beat Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, and Caleb Plant to become the unified upper middleweight champion.

Golovkin made it exciting

“The big drama show is back,” said Chris Algieri on Golovkin’s win. “I am very excited at what I saw tonight.

Image: Results: Golovkin smashes Szeremeta

“This is what I wanted, this is what I expected, and he came out and did exactly what he should have done.

“He closed the show, he made an exciting fight out of a one-sided fight. So I’m excited about what’s next for GGG. Stylistically, Booo Boo [Demetrius Andrade] is a nightmare for everybody.

“That’s one of the avoided guys in the division. I’d like to see him get his shot. That would be a great fight. That fight makes a lot of sense,” said Algieri.

“Any fight makes sense for GGG,” said Todd Grisham. “Boo Boo Andrade, is it BJ Saunders or is it Canelo Alvarez? Plenty of work for him to do tomorrow.

If Golovkin doesn’t get the trilogy match against Canelo that he’s been looking for next, Demetrius Andrade would be perfect.

There’s no reason why that fight can’t happen because Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs) is unbeaten, he holds the WBO middleweight title, and he fights on DAZN. More importantly, Andrade would be more than willing to face GGG.

Image: Results: Golovkin smashes Szeremeta

The only reason why Golovkin shouldn’t take a fight with Andrade is if Canelo Alvarez agrees to face him next. But based on Canelo’s comments in the last two weeks, his focus is on unifying the 168-lb division, and he doesn’t wish to face Golovkin.

Those fights with GGG have been challenging for Canelo, and many boxing fans viewed the Mexican star as the loser in both matches.

Did Golovkin scare Canelo away?

Golovkin might have scared Canelo away with how he looked against Szeremeta because he looked like the guy he was in his last 20s to early 30s. The only thing that you can criticize Golovkin for in the fight was how he looked fatigued by the fifth, and his energy seemed to drop off.

Golovkin was still punching hard, but he looked tired and unable to press for the full three minutes of each round the way he used to back in 2016 and earlier.

If Canelo were in there with Golovkin tonight, GGG would have needed to fight hard for the full three minutes of each round to have a shot at beating him.

Image: Results: Golovkin smashes Szeremeta

The little known Polish fighter Szeremeta is just what the doctor ordered in giving GGG the perfect opponent for him to shine against, which he definitely did in knocking the hapless unknown fighter down four times before the fight was stopped.

It’s unclear what the International Boxing Federation’s reasonings were in giving Szeremeta a #1 ranking with their organization, but they ended up with pie in their faces with how over-matched he looked.

Yeah, Golovkin had a lot to do with that, but surely the IBF could have picked a better fighter to be their #1 ranked contender than Szeremeta

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