Gennady Golovkin SHOCKER, Floyd Mayweather, JR – Adrien Broner Coming Soon?, RSR Forum Hot Topic & New England Patriots

By Dave “Mythical” Siderski

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin Vs David Lemieux

Gennady Golovkin faces perhaps his toughest challenge to date as he squares off power punching IBF Middleweight champion David Lemieux tonight on HBO. GGG is rightfully a heavy favorite but Lemieux’s punching power makes him a dangerous and compelling opponent. One thing is certain, there will be some serious leather thrown in this one. It will be exciting and competitive while it lasts but in the end Golovkin will be the one left standing. My pick is GGG by 8th round TKO.

This is the other fight on Saturday’s HBO card. Nicaraguan Flyweight sensation Roman Gonzalez might be the best fighter we’ve seen at or below 112 since the days of Ricardo Lopez. Viloria is a live challenger, who’s been a champion at both 108 and 112 and comes in on a 4 fight win streak since losing the WBO Flyweight title to Juan Francisco Estrada. The 34 year old Viloria is also a heavy underdog but like Lemieux possessed dangerous power which gives him a chance in this fight. In the end, I think Gonzalez has too much of everything and stops Viloria in the 7th round.

Rumor of the Week: Floyd Mayweather, JR.

Floyd Mayweather, JR. hasn’t even been retired for a month, yet every day it seems like there’s some sort of a rumor going around about who he’s going to come back to fight. The latest involves Adrien Broner, who he’s rumored to come back to face in 2016. Please give me a minute to step away while I lose my lunch.

What an odious matchup! Broner makes Mayweather look like Will Rodgers (or should I say Mr. Rogers). Unless Mayweather completely loses it over the next several months, it’s also a terrible matchup in the ring. Just what boxing needs, another dull shut out win for Mayweather. To make it more interesting, maybe Vegas can take bets on how many F-bombs Broner drops in the post-fight interview. I’ll set the over/under at three. Any takers?

RSR Forum Topic of the Week

Old School Fighters vs New School Fighters. RSR member Aaron A-Trax Morris posted a great topic for debate this week. He questions why traditionalists like myself assume that old school fighters are better than modern fighters. Admittedly, my own personal bias plays a role in my opinion about it as I believe we are all at least somewhat partial to the fighters we grew up following (in my case guys like Hagler, SRL, Duran and Arguello among others).

That said, I still believe a rational assessment of the question does lead one to the conclusion that the fighters of the past were better than the fighters of today. Yes, in general athletes today are bigger, stronger, faster, and more dynamic today than in the past. However, I believe there are two major differences that differentiate boxing from other sports.

First there were far fewer choices for the elite athletes of the past, making them far more likely pursue boxing. Joe Louis or Jack Johnson did not have the option of going into professional baseball, football or basketball. Boxing was a more prominent sport on the landscape, leading to a deeper talent pool in the sport and greater competition than is present today. Second, fighters in the past competed much more frequently, gaining far greater experience than those of day. Consider that the champion of today has an average of approximately 30 bouts under his belt; In 1981, the average champion had 45 fights; Going back to 1950 the average champion had close to 90 professional fights. Repetition is the mother of skill and the old timers had more opportunities to develop their craft against a higher level of competition. Thus, I remain in the old school camp.

Anyway, those are my thoughts for this week. Stay tuned for next week’s edition of: “As the Boxing World Turns”. I have one final prediction that has nothing to do with boxing. Patriots over the Colts 56-3 on Sunday night football. The Brady and Belichick revenge tour is coming to your town soon!

Hailing frequencies out!

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