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Gennady Golovkin is the most avoided fighter in the sport and, instead of hanging around waiting for the phone to ring, “GGG” stays active and takes on anyone brave enough to step inside the ring with him.
Golovkin (32-0, 29 KOs) defends his IBO and WBA middleweight world titles against 2014 Boxcino tournament winner Willie Monroe Jr. (19-1, 6 KOs) this Saturday at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
Golovkin is coming into this fight with a 19 consecutive knockout streak, making him not only one of the most exciting fighters in the world, but also drawing early comparisons to Mike Tyson.
Golovkin is clearly gunning for a mega fight with either Canelo Alvarez or Miguel Cotto in 2016. In the meantime, the boogeyman from Kazakhstan will look for another dominating performance against Monroe.
Read on for the three keys to victory for Gennady Golovkin.
1. Cut Off The Ring
Monroe is a cagey veteran who will try to find every bit of real estate inside the ring to avoid getting hit by one of Golovkin’s monster shots.
Monroe is coming off a win in January over the rugged Brian Vera, where Vera found success early in the fight by crowding Monroe into the corner. Ultimately, Vera failed to cut the ring off, allowing Monroe to outpoint Vera and land shots from a distance.
Golovkin, gunning for his 20th consecutive knockout, will attempt to seek and destroy Monroe by not giving him any room to run.
In June 2013, Golovkin put on a tremendous performance by stopping Matthew Macklin in three rounds, and it all started with Golovkin’s ability to cut the ring off and not allow Macklin to get comfortable.
Daniel Geale, another tough middleweight, tried using his foot work against Golovkin when they met in New York in July of last year, but again Golovkin set perfect traps and Geale found himself cornered and knocked down with a hard right hand.
Geale was no match for Golovkin and the fight was stopped in the third round too.
2. Go to the Body
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Golovkin is a devastating body puncher and, when facing a southpaw like Monroe, Golovkin may look to go to the body early to make a statement.
In his last fight against Martin Murray in Monte Carlo, Golovkin made a statement right off the bat by landing a hard right to the body, sending Murray down. Although Murray managed to get back up, he protected against future body shots from Golovkin knowing full well another clean shot would have probably ended the fight.
Landing a clean shot on Monroe’s body can help Golovkin extend his knockout streak as it will be difficult for Monroe to withstand it.
3. Take your Time and Use the Jab
In that same match with Murray, Golovkin earned an 11th-round TKO victory, proving he can easily go deep into fights if he needs to. Monroe most likely will not stand in front of Golovkin, so it will be Golovkin’s jab that will be the key to set up a power shot on Monroe.
Monroe’s only chance of surviving rounds is to establish a jab of his own to frustrate Golovkin. Golovkin can take the jab away by landing his own and not trying to rush the knockout.
However, if Golovkin stays patient and uses the jab to set up body punches the knockout will inevitably come.
