It’s abundantly clear that the one thing Gennady Golovkin is in need of after his gruelling, arguably career-toughest fight with Sergiy Deverayanchenko, is a good, long rest. In fact, it’s probable that we will not see GGG back in action until May of next year; sensible, too. But who will Triple-G fight next? Indeed, who will GGG fight as he sees out the remaining four fights of his six-fight deal with DAZN?
GGG, 40-1-1(35) rolled over Steve Rolls in his DAZN debut fight, and he has now, just barely, beaten Derevyanchenko. So who next, and has GGG actually got four big fights left in him at age 37 going on 38? GGG may have been ill going into Saturday night’s fight (certainly there is no reason to doubt these claims), but age and wear and tear have also caught up with him. How much we will perhaps find out in Golovkin’s next fight.
Canelo is the one GGG really wants, and the same with the fans, but will the Mexican star play ball and agree to that third fight? Maybe, as has already been said by some, he will indeed, seeing how much GGG struggled and how hard he was made to work on Saturday.
If not, it could be WBO middleweight champ Demetrius Andrade next for GGG, in a two-belt unification clash. But if GGG has lost a major step or two, might Andrade, with his speed and slickness, be all wrong for Triple-G? The same question could be asked of super-middleweight belt-holder Billy Joe Saunders, who has been after a big fight with Golovkin for a few years now.
But it might be that Golovkin, if he doesn’t grant Derevyanchenko a rematch, looks at making a move up in weight to 168, and he might pick Saunders as his target. Or maybe another Brit in Callum Smith? Even though Golovkin is past his best, he is still arguably, until someone proves otherwise in definitive fashion, the best middleweight in the world today. And of course GGG is a huge star.
Let’s hope the Kazakhstan warrior has enough left in the tank to be able to compete at nothing but the highest level as he sees out his DAZN deal, and arguably his career at the same time.
