Genandy “GGG” Golovkin: Many are Sold on Him, but I am Not Just Yet!

By Roy “Sharpshooter” Bennett

“Boxing, for all its lies, is about the truth.” — F.X. Toole

Gennady Golovkin reigns over the middleweight division like a modern day Augustus. A thinker. Calculating. Dominant. His every move – in the ring – coldly ruthless.

The other belt holders – Saul Canelo Alvarez, Daniel Jacobs, and Billy Joe Saunders – are merely itinerant rebels trying to mount uprisings from distant provinces who will, when their time comes, be crushed under the trip hammer like forces of the state.

But as Golovkin leaves a trail of destruction behind him as he makes his way through the middleweight era many – myself included – will not be throwing flowers into his path just yet. As good as he is – as dominant as he has been – he lacks the kind of opponent who will bring out the very best in him.
The bitter antagonist who will lacerate flesh, attempt to break his spirit, and force him to dig deep into his mental and physical reserves. The kind of opponent who has the skills and the psyche to force Golovkin to answer questions about himself even he doesn’t know he’s capable of finding the solutions to.

Lacking this kind of trial no fighter in history can be considered great. Boxing has many examples of such rivalries woven into the rich tapestry of its bloody history. Middleweight arch-enemies Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano fought each other to a standstill three times in the 1940’s in fights so savage Graziano said, “If there hadn’t of been a referee one of us would’ve wound up dead.”
When Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier met for the third time in Manila, Philippines, in 1975 it was a fight so brutal in its intensity Frazier said, “I hit him with punches that would bring down the walls of a city.” Ali described it as “The closest thing to dying that I know of.”

Depending on which camp you’re in you’re either waiting for Golovkin’s defining victory or his crushing defeat. The war with the opponent who stretches his every nerve to breaking point and makes him soar to a dramatic new level or fall face first onto the cold muddy ground of the battlefield. Alas the middleweight division seems barren of such offerings. Or is it?
The middleweight picture is slowly becoming much clearer but Golovkin’s foreboding shadow continues to hang heavily over the four corners of any ring in which the other titleholders may dare to face him.

The partisan followers of Saul Canelo Alvarez – the WBC and lineal belt holder -should not believe the hype that currently surrounds his carefully manufactured career. His ledger largely consists of victories over smaller boxers and fighters whose better days were behind them. That both Floyd Mayweather, JR. and Erislandy Lara showed Alvarez his true level is no coincidence. Around him there has been an ever tightening closing of ranks. One does not need to have been a fly on the wall to determine what was said in the Golden Boy boardroom.
He is their prize asset and as such he must be protected and given every conceivable advantage in fight negotiations. For the Canelo faithful rest assured he will be kept away from any fully fledged middleweights with a passing semblance of a concussive punch and the destructive mindset to back it up. Say nothing of the fact that Alvarez is a fully blown middleweight himself.

When Golovkin marshalls his considerable arsenal against Alvarez his level will be cruelly exposed for all to see. Mayweather, JR. and Lara lacked the punching power to make the Mexican star pay severely for his mistakes. Against one of the hardest punchers in the game there will be no such mercy given.

Daniel Jacobs – the WBA regular trinket holder – ruined Peter Quillin’s middleweight ambitions with one well placed overhand right and got him out of there in double quick time before his own chin got checked. It is no secret that Jacobs is fragile about the whiskers. Any top middleweight that has to pick himself up from the canvas against Sergio Mora would do well to steer well clear of initiating any argument with a fighter who has 31 career knockout victories on his 34 bout card and is on a consecutive 21 KO win streak.
Jacobs does not need to place himself in harm’s way. He is personable and skilled enough to make good money defending his regular belt against much less dangerous opposition. What he will choose to do is anyone’s guess. Play it safe or take the road less travelled? I can’t see him risking it. Fighting Quillin was a calculated gamble that paid off. There will be no such pay off against Golovkin. And deep down the people around Jacobs know it.

Billy Joe Saunders – the recently crowned guardian of the WBO bauble – was heard vociferously protesting his right not to fight Golovkin after his victory over Andy Lee in England recently. “Golovkin can f*** off,” said Saunders during a post fight interview in his dressing room. The affable Londoner of Irish descent went on to explain that he wasn’t ready for Golovkin but wouldn’t rule out the possibility of facing him if his financial demands can be met. Make of it what you will. The fact remains none of the above mentioned belt holders are banging on Golovkin’s door to fight him.

While we wait for the messengers on horseback to gallop across the land to deliver official news of their willingness to eventually do battle, mandatory contender to Golovkin’s IBF title Tureano Johnson, 19-1, 13 KO’s, could very well be the next victim to offer himself up for a public flogging in the town square. Rest assured the crowds will flock to see it even though many will not have even heard of him – even in his adopted hometown of Georgia. The bloodletting will be swift and I’ll wager you a leather pouch of fifty silver coins it won’t go past 5 rounds.

It is a marking time bout to keep Golovkin’s considerable tools sharp. A footbridge over which his one man army must pass on the way to crushing more prestigious foes in the hinterlands. Unluckily for Johnson Abel Sanchez has no problems motivating his fighter for such tasks. Lock up your children. It is not likely to be a pretty sight.

Which begs the question – for how long can the other middleweight belt holders be allowed to kick the can down the road? The ridiculous games of avoidance and excuse making continue, enabled by alphabet governing bodies and promoters keen to avoid their belt holders losing in unification fights to other organizations and promotional entities.

2016 will likely be the year the fighter known as “GGG” gets to silence his critics and emerge as the premiere fighter in the sport. Who can stop him? From any vantage point he looks unstoppable right now and will likely see out the year having wiped out any legitimate challenges at the weight. It’s been a long time since the middleweights have seen a gladiator this dominant – Marvelous Marvin Hagler was the last to hold the division in a vice like iron grip in the 1980’s. The other title holders have scattered to the wind but it won’t save them. The time for reckoning has come.

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