By Mohamed Horomtallah: According to the Webster dictionary, a hater is a person who hates someone or something. I most certainly do not dislike Gennadiy Golovkin as a person. He strikes me as a decent human being. I, however, do not like the narrative surrounding his career.
I guess that makes me a hater after all! A hater of falsehood and deception, in other words, everything related to Golovkin from a boxing standpoint.
Dissecting the resume
A quick look at Golovkin’s boxrec reveals that in 43 bouts, his biggest win is David LeMieux, a decent but limited fighter.
He never separated himself from his two other noticeable wins: Jacobs and Derevyanchenko.
Both of these fights were very close, and many believe Golovkin lost both of them.
I don’t count the Brook fight because it was “not good for boxing due to the weight disparity” in Golovkin’s own words when asked about the Canelo vs. Khan fight (https://www.boxingnews24.com/2016/02/205507/).
Golovkin did even worse by bringing Brook all the way up to 160 pounds.
While Canelo has been heavily criticized, Golovkin got a pass from the media and the fans in a blatant and shameless display of double standards.
The mastermind
Golovkin’s career plan is not fortuitous. Meet Abel Sanchez, the man responsible for designing, brilliantly, I might add, the road map for the Kazakh.
Upon becoming his trainer, Sanchez saw the big picture instantly, or should I say the big dollar signs.
Taking advantage of the emergence of east European fighters and the love story HBO had with them, his plan was simple yet effective: have Golovkin, who’s a good fighter with an amazing chin, face lesser opposition and look impressive in the process.
The fabricated persona
Knocking out B-level fighters was not sufficient. Sanchez understood that and came up with a genius idea: attach Golovkin’s name to the huge and loyal Mexican fan base.
Just like you and I would try on new clothes, Golovkin put his “made in Mexico” fabricated image on and memorized the talking points given to him by his trainer: “Mexican Style” and “Big Drama Show!”
It worked like a charm! The network and the fans ate it up like Scooby snacks, like my main man would say. The Mexican fan base even adopted him as one of their own, with Sanchez smiling behind the scenes. Phase one completed.
The hype machine
It was time to put the machine in full swing! Every single Golovkin fight was celebrated as the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it didn’t matter if the opponents were named Curtis Stevens, Daniel Geale, Martin Murray, Willie Monroe, or Dominic Wade as long as the hypnotized fans and media heard the marketing catchphrases ( Mexican Style and Big Drama Show) after each knockout.
And just like a company analyzes its targeted customers, Golovkin started saying “gracias” and wearing sombreros and the Mexican national soccer team jerseys to win hearts and minds. Phase two completed.
The quest for the big payday
After receiving total validation, Golovkin and his trainer saw a clear path to their initial goal: going after the big money.
Make no mistake about it; legacy has always been secondary to Golovkin. It was all about the benjamins since day one.
Sanchez put the boxing world on notice, stating that they can and will beat anyone from 154 to 175. Prince Golovkin was suddenly the most feared man in boxing by decree, except the only fighters targeted were big payday fights with the likes of Cotto, Mayweather, Canelo, Froch, and Chavez Jr.
When Ward (168) and Lara (154) challenged Golovkin’s greatness, Sanchez came to the rescue, once again, claiming that they were not big names and wouldn’t sell well. They would’ve more than likely sold more than the 150k Golovkin’s PPV with David Lemieux brought in.
A new rule was set to protect Golovkin from the pressure of dangerous fights: if Golovkin calls out a fighter, he is to accept the fight or live in shame, but if a fighter dared to challenge him, he was to be ridiculed and tarnished.
HBO pushed Ward out of the division and forced him to move up, and Lara got dismissed, and yet, like nothing has happened, they kept praising Golovkin as the best fighter in the last 25 years. Some went as far as comparing him to and even placing him above all-time greats like Hagler and Sugar Leonard.
Yes, the same Golovkin whose biggest win is Lemieux!
He finally got his wish and landed the Canelo fight for the kind of money that he always dreamed of, and when their second fight got postponed, it never crossed his mind facing other champions, who were ready to take the fight on short notice. He opted instead for…Martirosyan!
Not interested in the pursuit of greatness, not willing to take any risk, just waiting for the second Canelo check! Phase three completed.
The DAZN debacle
With one last big payday as the only goal of the twilight of his career, Golovkin signed a multi-fight deal with DAZN in pursuit of a third Canelo fight.
And just like a reversed fairy tale, the prince turned into a frog, and his true colors came out.
He fired Sanchez, the architect who helped him accomplish his goals. He even went as far as questioning Sanchez’s training and the whole Mexican style concept claiming that he now has a different style.
With the Canelo’s checks already cleared and a huge contract secured, Golovkin was done pretending.
Cashing out
What was once a praised fighter is now just a pugilist waiting to cash out. He has done absolutely nothing since signing with DAZN, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he pulls out of the Murata (who lost to Hassan N’dam!!!) as soon as Canelo agrees to fight him in September.
After all, why take any risk, be it minimal, and Jeopardize one last big score?
Years from now, when all the dust has settled, and the mirage has vanished, history will not be kind to Golovkin. He will go down as a fighter who pretended to be something he never was and fooled and deceived the public in the process.
He never separated himself from the few good fighters he faced. He never conquered other divisions. He never aimed for greatness. It was all smoke and mirrors. And money.
