Photo by Will Hart/HBO
Martin Murray’s enormous heart was not enough to go the distance with undefeated Middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin this past Saturday in their fight from the Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlo.
Golovkin walked through Murray’s punches for 11 rounds, seriously damaging Murray’s body and face until stopping him in an assault that arguably lasted two or three rounds longer than it should have.
It’s Golovkin’s 32nd straight professional victory without a loss, and his 19th straight win by knockout.
Moving forward, Golovkin is expected to fight three more times on HBO in 2015, next scheduled for Saturday, May 16 against a currently undetermined opponent, from an undetermined location.
Once again in his post-fight interview, Golovkin called out current WBC and lineal champion Miguel Cotto, but Cotto’s team has shown very little interest in putting him in the ring with the dangerous knockout machine from Kazakhstan in the past.
Other possible big name opponents such as Canelo Alvarez, Peter Quillin, Andy Lee and David Lemieux all have scheduled fights that make them unavailable, leaving Golovkin in a position where he’ll have to either step away from his May date, or take a “stay busy” fight with a lower ranked, lesser-known opponent.
Read on for three possible options for Gennady Golovkin moving forward in 2015.
3. Step Away From May 16 Date
Approach A Bigger Fight
Photo by Rick Schultz/Getty Images
One of the things that fans of Gennady Golovkin like about him the most is even though he’s won a world title and is rapidly gaining popularity, he likes staying as active as possible.
Not too many fighters as established as Golovkin prefer to fight four times a year, but he’s made it very clear that’s exactly what he wants to do in 2015.
On the other hand, if his team feels it’s not worth him risking a fight with a lesser known opponent, and a smarter business decision would be to wait until later in the year to possibly fight one of the winners of Canelo Alvarez vs. James Kirkland, Peter Quillin vs. Andy Lee or David Lemieux vs. Hassan N’Dam, then it’s not impossible to see them take that path.
Also, if Miguel Cotto ever decided he did want to make the very exciting and lucrative pay-per-view fight with Golovkin, it would certainly land on Cotto’s preferred date, which is the weekend of New York City’s Puerto Rican Day Parade, Saturday June 13. That would force Golovkin to move dates.
It’s a stretch to think Cotto will change his mind and want to fight Golovkin. It’s also very possible that if Golovkin did walk away from his May 16 date and waited for a bigger fight later in the year with one of the named opponents above, he could end up fighting only two times instead of four.
Instead, one would assume Golovkin will indeed take his “stay busy” fight in May, and then set up a third fight of the year with most likely the winner of David Lemieux and Hassan N’Dam, either would make for a very interesting unification bout.
Click through for two possible opponent options for Golovkin’s May 16 date.
2. Willie Monroe Jr. (19-1-0, 6 KOs)
Willie Monroe Jr. is a young, very slick, defensive-minded boxer who began to establish his name in 2014 when he won the Boxcino Middleweight Tournament on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights.
His last three fights he won by clear unanimous decision against Vitaliy Kopylenko, Brandon Adams and well-known journeyman brawler Bryan Vera, the three fighters combine for a record of 60-8-0.
Monroe is ranked in the top 10 by the WBC, WBO and ranked No. 3 to Golovkin’s WBA title.
In an interview with BoxingScene.com Monroe about the possibility of fighting against Golovkin.
[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered”]“People think I’m crazy but that is a fight I want. You gotta be half crazy to be successful in this business. I want to mix it up with him because so many guys wont.”[/otw_shortcode_quote]
Although Monroe doesn’t have the experience that a lot of Golovkin’s other opponents do, his defensive style could certainly give him a chance to go into deep rounds with Golovkin.
He has much quicker hands and feet than some of Golovkin’s opponents, like Marco Antonio Rubio, Daniel Geale, or Mathew Macklin who were all knocked out in early rounds.
He’d also have a four inch reach advantage over Golovkin, which would make it easier for him to box while moving backwards, using his quickness to stay off of the ropes and out of corners, something Golovkin’s most recent opponent Martin Murray was unable to do.
1. Tureano Johnson (18-1-1, 13 KOs)
Speaking stylistically, Willie Monroe’s longer frame, quicker feet and defensive mentality puts him in position to go more rounds with Golovkin than Tureano Johnson.
The reason one would assume Johnson would get this fight over Monroe, is Johnson’s straight forward, brawling style which could make for a very brutal and violent, fan-friendly fight.
The marquee moment in Johnson’s career to this point came in April 2014 when he took on Curtis Stevens, who fought into the eighth round with Golovkin just five months earlier.
Not too many people gave Johnson a chance against Stevens, but he was phenomenal throughout the fight, constantly pressuring Stevens and giving him a beating that put Johnson up on all three judge’s scorecards going into the 10th and final round.
Johnson was arguably robbed that night by referee Gary Rosato, who stopped the fight in favor of Stevens with just 51 seconds left until the final bell.
Since then, Johnson has won four straight fights, including a win over then undefeated Mike Gavronski, and most recently a win over Alex Theran on Roc Nations first ever boxing card back on January 9.
In an interview with Round By Round Boxing, back on January 31, Johnson gave his opinion on Golovkin.
[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered”]“GGG reminds me right now of the situation with old Mike Tyson opponents who were scared when they walked in the ring. I won’t back down. I’ll still come forward, I don’t know any other way.”[/otw_shortcode_quote]
Who do you think Gennady Golovkin should fight next? Please feel free to discuss in our comment section below, and follow RBRBoxing.com for future news on Golovkin and all else boxing.
Header Photo by: Christian Kuechler
