Photos by Will Hart
Gennady “GGG” Golovkin is a monster of a fighter and a threat to anyone in the middleweight division. Golovkin demolished his opponent Dominic Wade this past Saturday night and now stands at 35-0, 32 KOs.
Going into the bout, Wade was an undefeated fighter with a good record (18-0, 12 KOs), but although his record spoke well for him, it wasn’t enough against the hard-hitting Kazakh puncher Golovkin.
Golovkin delivered a spectacular performance against Wade, finishing him off in only two rounds. Golovkin did more that night than just easily disposing his opponent, he won a huge number of the Mexican fan base over.
It’s a good thing for any fighter to win a huge fan base, but when he starts to win over his probable next opponents fans, a fight between the two contestants will eminently be in demand.
As interim champion, Golovkin is in position for a mandatory bout against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who holds the legitimate WBC Middleweight championship, the crown jewel of its division.
“Give me my belt, hey I need my belt,” said Golovkin after his victory on Saturday night. Those words were directed at Alvarez and are words of a true pound-for-pound champion.
Golovkin proved that he is a natural-born fighter, hungry to prove why he’s the best, earning his reputation and his spot as the best in the sport by fighting everyone and anyone to prove just that.
A fight between GGG and Canelo is sure to not only be a lucrative fight, but a mega fight for both fighters, guaranteeing the winner a spot as the best fighter in the Middleweight division. It’s a fight that needs to be made for the sake of the fans and most importantly for the sake of boxing.
But although we have seen fighters opting out of matchups in the past, and going on to face weaker opposition, it wouldn’t be surprising if a fight between Canelo and Golovkin would yet again be prolonged and left to speculation.
If GGG can’t unify his middleweight tittles against Canelo in the near future, he should keep on going forward the way he has been doing in his career. To Golovkin’s credit, the opposition he’s been facing lately is perfect for him.
Not only because he’s fighting fighters in his corresponding weight class, but because they possess the challenging skills that he needs in order to truly prove himself as the best in his division. Therefore, he isn’t to blame that many top fighters choose not to fight him, and he’s forced to face upcoming prospects or, in the case of this past Saturday Wade, an untested opponent.
If I had to pick Golovkin’s next opponent, Erislandy Lara would definitely be at the top of the list–if he is successful in his upcoming rematch against Vanes Martirosyan.
Lara is a fighter that has come up short in big fights before, not because he get’s dominated, but because his style of fighting isn’t necessarily fan pleasing and the judges tend to prefer a more aggressive style, ending up in controversial scorecards.
Lara possesses all the qualities of a great boxer, which would make a fight between him and Golovkin a very interesting match.
Golovkin has shown that it takes a little while longer for him to knock out slick moving boxers with good ring generalship in the past. It would also give him a chance to prove he is a better boxer than Canelo because Canelo arguably lost his fight against Lara in the eyes of many fans.
And if GGG is victorious against Lara that may well force a fight between him and Canelo in the future.
