Gennady Golovkin: Simply Put – A Special Fighter

By Doctor Ibrahim Hussain

The Japanese make cars like no other. Russia and Cuba make boxers like no other. All are a production line of perfection. Yes, every product has its faults, but the attention to detail, and using a recipe that is proven is what has put these manufacturers in a different league.

I was fortunate to train with the Kazakh and Russian World Boxing teams in 2003, and Gennady Golovkin was just another soldier that followed the strict communist regime of training, that would have taken many more of his fellow countrymen to world stardom was it not for their resistance (or prevention) of entering the paid arena of boxing were they to give up the amateur ranks.
All of this change following the demise of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Proliferation of boxing weapons was unleashed into the western world.

Gennady Golovkin has a boxing resume like few other in the current western democratic world, having steam rolled through almost all the opposition to become world amateur champion in 2003 (other than one close bout against..you guessed it, a Cuban), and making even easier work to clinch the Gold Medal at the 2004 Olympic games.

Since turning professional, he has quickly become known as one of boxing’s most devastating punchers. However, simply labelling him as such, is an injustice, and it is often hard to appreciate his full skill set, as his talents lie far beyond the great boxers of today.

Rule number one of ‘communist’ boxing is not to get hit. Acquiring and enhancing this skill is not a God given talent, and once comprehended involves tireless hours of practice, which is what the Russian, Kazakh and Cuban boxing teams do to a tireless regime, whether it be in a well organized ring environment, or as I witnessed, in the corridors of the team hotel, for great lengths of time everyday, in pairs, avoiding ‘tags’ from each other as they moved up and down the corridors in their sweat suits, at close range to each other.

This was a style of training I had never witnessed before. Looking to tag each other, bear handed, picking the spots. In hindsight it made complete sense, looking for every opportunity to score, whether an initial feint achieve it, or simply blistering speed taking chance at an opening that briefly presented itself.

Nowadays, one can witness this same skill in the likes of Kovalev and Golovkin. The way they are able to stay out of range, and quickly move into position and attack is what makes them, along with their Thor like power, very difficult subjects not only to cleanly hit, but also to avoid (I appreciate that Golovkin is in a different class to Kovalev when it comes to this).

What is more impressive and easy to miss, is the feints that Golovkin is able to demonstrate. Easy to miss seeing them because his feints are in the form of actual shots that are thrown with a lot of force (an uppercut of all feints!), followed by the intentional fight-winning blow during the delivery of the feint (in the case of his last fight an overhand right thrown as the left uppercut was still in full flow).

This is quite extraordinary, and easily throws the recipient into having a blind spot position with no chance of defending.

I believe this is a trademark of Golovkin, akin to Pacquiao’s turning under and round, except that Golovkin does not at anytime put himself out of range while disorientating his opponent.

He can look much more wooden than a Mayweather, JR. or Pacquiao, and far less dynamic at times. This however is a massive strength, which will not only give him longevity in a fight, but longevity in the fight business. Do not be mistaken, every single move of the less erratic Golovkin is carefully orchestrated to always being in lunging capability like a coiled cobra.

Triple G is set to fight Martin Murray in Monaco in February. Martin Murray is a hard warrior with an excellent defense. Martin Murray was simply robbed against Sergio Martinez, and also faired at least evenly against Felix Sturm. Martin Murray has never been stopped in his tracks, or significantly hurt in the ring. Yes, Martin Murray is harder than a marble hammer, and this upcoming fight could speak volumes about the prospect of Gennady Golovkin, just in case there were any doubts after his absolute demolition of Danielle Geale who he beat like a rag doll.

After the Martin Murray fight, should he be victorious in his now characteristic manner, there can be no delays, and he should then concentrate on conquering the very top names (before they retire), or he could find himself in the same position as Andre Ward, and we do not want to see any more waste of talent, even if it is temporary. Golovkin’s prime years are now dawning on us, and we have an exciting ride ahead. No doubt he will air the invincibility of an Eastern Tsar.