When his career is over, middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin might go down as one of the greatest over-forties fighters ever. Right now, GGG is 1-0(1) as a forty-something fighter, Golovkin having won his return to action fight today.
As fans know, GGG overcame some tough moments – his body especially being tested – before he wore down and stopped Ryota Murata in Japan.
It was a good fight, an action fight as advertised, and Triple-G got the win most everyone felt he would get. But it was in no way easy.
Or; to be perfectly honest, was Gennady’s showing impressive – unless you are willing to give Golovkin extra points for his performance due to two things: his age, and the fact that today’s fight marked his first action in well over a year.
Golovkin, who now holds two belts at middleweight, is now likely headed to a third fight with Canelo Alvarez, in September (providing Canelo comes through his May fight with Dmitry Bivol). But unlike the first two fights, GGG had with Canelo – winning both in the eyes of many, despite officially drawing one and losing one – it will be a whole different ball game this time.
Never mind the age of the two fighters; Golovkin will be having his 168-pound debut against Canelo, and what champ can you think of that moved up to an unfamiliar weight division, this for the biggest fight of his career, at such an advanced age? Make no mistake, the Mexican superstar holds all the cards heading into the trilogy showdown.
In fact, it seems to most fight fans that, as loaded a deck as Canelo holds, it will take nothing short of an immense effort for Golovkin to beat Canelo in fight three. Maybe Golovkin has such a kind of odds-defying; true greatness-earning performance inside of him. Maybe. But it sure didn’t look like it today in Japan.
Heading into fight three, GGG fans are braced for the worst, while Canelo fans are looking forward to the best post-fight party. GGG never surprised us today, but, maybe – just maybe, somehow – he will surprise us, and Canelo, later on this year.
Who will YOU be pulling for when GGG and Canelo get into the ring with each other, this in an attempt to finish their unfinished business?