Gennady Golovkin: Proving to Be a Modern Day Mike Tyson

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By Donny Lalonde

GGG…. The talk in the game has turned to GGG. Why? Because he is one of the most exciting, edge of your seat dramatic fighters to come along since a young Mike Tyson. It is rare when a young fighter has the dynamic power, where like a young Tyson, you have to watch every moment because you never know when the fight will end, but you do know it could be any second.

Watching Gennady box reminds me of the time I was working in a camp in the middle of Northern Canada for the railroad. It was March 23 1979 and Ken Norton was fighting Earnie Shavers. Norton had been in that classic war with Larry Holmes for the Heavyweight Championship just 9 months earlier. Earnie’s punching power was legendary already. To see the fight we had to take a shift off of work. I was making $350 a week in those days a TON of money for a 19 year old, but I just had to see this fight. So a few other boxing junkies and I, took off a shift, rented a room at a hotel at the nearest city and drove through the -30 weather to see this classic matchup. Of course first we had to get a bathtub full of beer and ice to go with it.

I took on the job of breaking up the ice and putting the beer in the tub. The fight was starting. All the pre fight hype had been done and we were psyched. The guys were yelling at me, “Donny, hurry up, the fight is starting.” It only took me about two minutes to take care of the ice and beer, but that was two seconds longer than the fight lasted. Earnie was another fighter you had to watch every minute or risk missing the dynamic knockout. Names like Edwin Rosario come to mind when thinking of fighters with devastating power that kept you glued to the tube in fear of missing the KO.

Tyson has so many examples like Berbick who had given Holmes, Ali and other top heavyweight’s fits and lasted the distance so you could go get a beer knowing he was going to be around. You better have sprinted to that beer when Tyson fought because Berbick like so many others lasted minutes and it ended with a sudden destruction of a fighter that had shown themselves to be if nothing else, tough and durable. Another Tyson fight GGG reminds me of is Lou Savarese. Lou had taken another of history’s greatest punchers BIG George Foreman the distance in a very close, you could say disputable decision. Mike destroyed him in less than two minutes. These kind of exciting fighters and punchers come along once in a while and they capture the imagination of the entire industry.

Gennady is that type of fighter…

In the conversation of P4P best today regarding GGG I feel it is premature. I mean Wladimir Klitschko has been champion for what 10 years? Floyd Mayweather, JR, Manny Pacquiao, and Juan Manuel Marquez, are guys that have had so many more opportunities to establish themselves in that claim.

I am very excited to have GGG in the sport and I look forward to his fights more than anyone out there today. Just for his pure punching power and appeal as a person. His good looks and under that beautiful smile the lurking in that mind the thought of connecting and having the effect of a nuclear bomb exploding on his opponent. Sheer thrill is what GGG brings to the ring and to the sport.

His record is solid. He has destroyed everyone he has been in the ring with except early in his developing days, he went the distance a few times. GGG doesn’t just connect one time and nothing happens between his punches that connect he brutalizes his opponents until he takes their will and macho and destroys it in them. He is fascinating to watch. Kind of like a freight train rolling down the tracks to a kid, you stay fascinated.

His championship fights have been against very credible champions who he has broken down and decimated. I have not heard too many ask for a rematch. I remember a few guys like Farrod Pinchback a sparring partner of mine in my championship days. Nothing I could do would discourage him and he would miss almost, barely connect and it hurt like a sledge hammer or my friend Merqui Sosa, he hit you like a big rock fell on your head and after a while you just knew, being in here with this guy is NOT good for my health…Seamus McDonagh was another one. I hated sparing with him because even when he barely touched you, it hurt like crazy. I was fortunate enough to be able to box well enough, move well enough and hit hard enough to keep that type of fighter off mainly and I had good resilience, but anything short of making them miss mostly every punch or only get caught with part of it and one couldn’t possibly stay in there with them, it was just too painful!

GGG has my attention and he may be become the P4P king, but let’s give him a chance to show that. Let’s see what happens when he fights a multiple time champion like Miguel Cotto.

I feel he can walk through the division and annihilate anyone in it. This will be a very exciting career to enjoy and we are fortunate to have him in the sport.

I look forward to seeing GGG against the exciting young David Lemieux who has similar excitement in his pressure and bombs away style. That could be a middleweight version of Shavers Vs Norton match up. I hope Lemieux’s management gets him some more experience before they throw him into that den, but I will be glued to the match when it happens.

Is he the most intriguing fighter in the sport today? Yes! Is he the most exciting to watch? Yes he is! Is he a fighter that most managers would want their fighter to avoid? If I was managing a fighter that would be a resounding yes! Like when I was champion at the same time as Michael Moorer. I asked my manager who he considered to be the greatest of all time, between Michael and I? He said, “Donny, there are better matches out there for you.” A nice way to say, no way, he is way too talented and too dangerous for you!

That is who GGG is today for any middleweight. Too talented and too dangerous, but he is also MR. Excitement, so, his drawing power will bring them in. I can’t wait to watch his ascension and I predict he will be an undisputed P4P and maybe one day earn the comparison to the ATG’s of the class. I will be glued to my seat to find out!