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What’s Next for Gennady Golovkin?

Who will step up to the plate to take on Gennady “GGG” Golovkin next?

Saturday, March 18, 2017 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) edged out Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs) on the scorecards winning via unanimous decision.

This was a tough fight between two warriors–many argue the fight could have gone either way. The judges scored the bout 115-112, 115-112 and 114-113.

Though Golovkin successfully defended the WBA, WBC, IBF and IBO Middleweight titles, Jacobs put an end to his 23-knockout streak.

This was a close fight between two of the best fighters in the Middleweight division. Jacobs was able to do what no other fighter had been able to–make Golovkin look beatable.

Jacobs is easily the stiffest competition Golovkin has faced thus far, he is extremely tough, quite crafty and has similar power in comparison to GGG.

Jacobs’ weight advantage also seems to have played a factor in Golovkin’s performance, which was clear to be a part of Jacobs’ plan after skipping the same day weigh ins for the IBF title.

Though Jacobs came up short, to some extent he exposed GGG and if nothing else, he may have given other fighters the confidence to step into the ring with Golovkin.

With that being said, who will step up to the plate to take on Gennady “GGG” Golovkin next?


Canelo Alvarez

Gennady Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez

Photo edit by Liam Brady/RBRBoxing

At this point, I think most boxing fans are starting to question whether or not this fight will ever happen.

Before Gennady Golovkin took on Daniel Jacobs there were rumblings that if both Golovkin won the fight against Jacobs and Canelo Alvarez beats Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in their upcoming May fight, that Golovkin-Canelo would happen.

Unfortunately, we’ve heard that before and this fight has yet to even come close to being made.

If this fight happens, it would likely draw the biggest audience since Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao.

This matchup would be intriguing because they do have such different styles of fighting. Ultimately, whoever comes into fight night with the better game plan will come out victorious.


Billy Joe Saunders

Photo by Dave Thompson/Getty Images

Photo by Dave Thompson/Getty Images

A fight between Gennady Golovkin and Billy Joe Saunders would definitely raise some eyebrows. Billy Joe Saunders is undefeated with a record of 24-0, 12 KOs and he is the current WBO Middleweight champion.

Saunders has welcomed the idea of fighting Golovkin on June 10 in Kazakhstan and is actually frustrated with the fact that Golovkin is continuing to pursue a fight with Canelo Alvarez.

“I don’t know why Golovkin is worried about him for, because he had a belt and gave it to him. He don’t want to fight Golovkin. He don’t want to fight nobody. Again, they want to fight people… they want to bring people down. They are bringing Chavez down to a stupid, stupid weight. He wouldn’t go to 160 to fight Golovkin. He won’t have me, yet he’ll have Chavez coming down.” “[Canelo] is nobody to worry about because he’s just trying to protect something – his legacy. The only legacy he’s got is getting beat off by Mayweather – nothing else. He might have tons and tons of money, good luck and fair play to him. I know how the sport is and he deserves it, but in my opinion, he’d never go down as a great – never, ever. I’m not saying that I’d go down as a great, but as a boxing fan he will never go down as a great in my book, ever.”

Though Saunders is very tough, a fight against Golovkin would definitely be a step up in competition for him.

Saunders did beat Chris Eubank Jr. by split decision and won in a tough fight against Andy Lee via majority decision, but those were really the only two fights where he was tested.

This is a good matchup, but I foresee Golovkin being able to cut off the ring and use his power to slow Saunders down.


Rematch Against Daniel Jacobs 

GGGJacobs_Hoganphotos3

Photo by Tom Hogan/K2

Few boxing fans would contest to seeing Gennady Golovkin vs. Daniel Jacobs II. Golovkin and Jacobs put on a great show and though I wouldn’t say it was a controversial decision, it was a very close fight.

Jacobs’ tactic to come in at a heavier weight worked in his favor. If he were to fight Golovkin again, it would be interesting to see if he adopted this same plan–many are speculating that Jacobs came into the fight weighing over 180 pounds.

While Jacobs looked sharp in the first fight, if he gets a second chance, he needs to use his jab more often to better control the pace of the fight.

Golovkin often gets off to a slow start; if he fights Jacobs again he needs to come out more aggressive early on to set the tone for the fight. Golovkin also needs to go to the body of Jacobs more, which he wasn’t executing as well as he normally does.

Another fight between Golovkin and Jacobs would probably be even better than the first. Golovkin would be looking to prove all of the naysayers wrong and Jacobs would have to back up his post-fight statement.

“I respect GGG, but I clearly won the fight and the fans support me on that. No matter what, I proved myself to be a champion.”

Any of these matchups would be great for boxing and would test Golovkin yet again. Can GGG continue to prove he is the best Middleweight in boxing today or will father time catch up to him?

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