It’s now official that Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin will be defending Kamil Szeremeta on December 18th on DAZN at a still to be determined venue.
IBF middleweight champion Golovkin’s fight against undefeated Szeremeta (21-0, 5 KOs) comes a deal before Canelo Alvarez challenges WBA super-middleweight champion Callum Smith on December 19th.
It’s the perfect setup for Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) and Alvarez (53-1-2 36 KOs) to face each other next May in a trilogy match on DAZN. This would be the long-awaited match that boxing fans have been waiting for since 2018.
Golovkin and Canelo still need to win their preliminary fights on December 18th and 19th for their match to happen. Based on the difference in punching power, experience, and ring record, Golovkin should have no problems defeating Szeremeta on December 18th.
The Polish fighter Szeremeta has fought in his native Poland throughout his eight-year career, and he’s been largely spoon-fed elementary level opposition.
It’s the kind of opposition that a fighter is matched against when inflating their resume. It’s worked for Szeremeta because the International Boxing Federation has given him a #1 ranking.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ญ๐ด๐๐ต ๐ฅ pic.twitter.com/W8WwcvfHiM
โ DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 24, 2020
Fans can judge whether they feel Szeremeta has earned the #1 ranking with the IBF to challenge a world title against Golovkin.
Szeremeta’s last seven opponents since 2017:
- Jose Antonio Villalobos
- Oscar Cortes
- Edwin Palacios
- Andrew Francillette
- Ruben Diaz
- Alessandro Goddi
- Sebastian Skrzypczynski
Those are obscure opposition, but they were good enough for the IBF to give Szeremeta a #1 ranking with their organization.
Szeremeta will be taking a tremendous step up in class in taking on Golovkin, but he may have success against GGG due to his advanced age.
Golovkin is about to turn 39, and he’s coming off of easily the worst performance of his career against Sergiy Derevyanchenko last year in October. Szeremeta, 31, has the youth and a little bit of power to give Golovkin potential problems if he can handle his still lethal power.
Golovkin was recently reworking his contract with DAZN, as they reportedly wanted him to reduce his pay from the $15 million per fight deal that he signed in 2019.
Golovkin signed a six-fight deal with DAZN, which some believed would take him all the way to retirement. If Golovkin loses to Szeremeta, we’ll see if he finishes his last six fights with DAZN. His first two fights have come against Derevyanchenko and Steve Rolls.
It’s difficult to predict what Golovkin will look like against Szeremeta because he’s facing an unknown guy after a year-long layoff. This could be a toss-up fight.