Is Golovkin the Real Deal ?

[Kirkland Laing]

Perhaps we should go a little overboard, his amateur record of 345-5 is something else he
was putting them away in the amateurs, as he does as a pro.
GGG is bring excitement to the division, and hes got people talking and whats wrong with that,!
plus he is very good , don't kid yourselves you NO he is.

Dia I think he's a cracking fighter, very exciting to watch and he's not just a big punch, he's got great quality. It's just rather than supposing he's better than everybody at MW, I want to see him prove it. I want to see him go after Martinez, Quillin, Chavez (if he stays at 160), Barker/Geale, Murray etc. As good as he looks he still needs to beat the top fighters at his weight to establish himself as the best.

At his age and after his injuries Martinez couldn't fairly be expected to last twelve rounds against Golovkin. He gets knocked down in pretty much every fight and at some point against Golovkin he won't get back up.

HBO are going to make sure they keep him on their network and Quillin is GBP/Showtime. Highly unlikely that gets made.

I'd back Golovkin to spark Barker, Murray and Geale on the same night and still have change from twelve rounds. Arum won't let Chavez Junior in the same time zone as Golovkin. That leaves Froch and Ward as fights HBO want and can get made. Maybe an HBO fight against a Macklin-level middle or a credible test at 168 to see how he is at the weight and then he fights one of those two guys. I'm guessing.

I'd back him to beat them all too, but I'd like to see him go out and actually do it. I know it's a cliche, but sports aren't played on paper. It's no good saying he'd beat them all anyway so he may as well not bother. If he can't get them in the ring for whatever reason e.g the reasons you give for the Quillin fight being unlikely then fair enough, move up up. I'd just like to see him try and get these fighters in the ring and clear out 160, or at least knock off a couple more of the top middleweights first. He's looked bloody impressive so far but he has only beaten Macklin really.

Murray and Barker were in the Sky studio for the Golovkin fight. I'm guessing you saw their reactions after the fight. HBO may well come up with the money to get one of them over to fight Golovkin, Murray would be a good measuring stick as he just fought Martinez and he'll definitely turn up if the money's right but I've never seen two fighters react like they did after that fight. They didn't even pretend to be confident about fighting Golovkin if they got the opportunity.

[Kirkland Laing]

BTW I heard Macklin broke a rib. Any truth in that?

[Cressa121]

BTW I heard Macklin broke a rib. Any truth in that?

Yeah, he said on twitter that the shot cracked a rib and completely winded him.

[Cressa121]

Murray and Barker were in the Sky studio for the Golovkin fight. I'm guessing you saw their reactions after the fight. HBO may well come up with the money to get one of them over to fight Golovkin, Murray would be a good measuring stick as he just fought Martinez and he'll definitely turn up if the money's right but I've never seen two fighters react like they did after that fight. They didn't even pretend to be confident about fighting Golovkin if they got the opportunity.

I did. "How would you try to beat Golovkin?"

"take a baseball bat."

Murray and Martinez have both said they'll fight him. Murray arguably beat both Sturm and Martinez so would be a good opponent, and while I think everything about Martinez's situation says he should retire, it looks like he'll fight on and he's willing. DiBella didn't sound too keen so we'll have to wait and see on that one. He probably will be avoided by a lot of fighters now, but if he can get them in the ring I'd rather see him stick around at 160 for a little while longer. If he can't then by all means move up - a Froch fight would be hellish - I just like to see fighters try and clean out weight classes before they move up.