Eddie Hearn believes Gennadiy Golovkin will benefit by being stronger by moving up to 168 to challenge undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 17th if the fight happens.
Hearn thinks that the 40-year-old Golovkin should have already moved up to 168 a long time ago because he’s fought his 16-year professional career in the middleweight division at 160.
Suppose Canelo defeats WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7th. In that case, he’ll then drop back down to 168 to defend his undisputed super middleweight championship against Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) in September in their trilogy match.
Already, many boxing fans are saying that Golovkin will be at a disadvantage in going up to 168 because he’s never fought in that weight class, and Canelo has been doing it consistently since his fight against Rocky Fielding in December 2018.
“I don’t think Gennadiy Golovkin should be boxing at 160 lbs,” he told The DAZN Boxing Show.
“How long has Gennadiy Golovkin been boxing at 160 lbs? So, I think when you see a little bit, a couple of times to the body, it’s like, hmm, that’s going to be brutalizing at 160 lbs.”
If Golovkin starts slowly against Canelo in their trilogy match like he did last weekend against the Japanese star Ryota Murata, he will fall behind. He will have no chance of winning, apart from knocking out the Mexican star.
If Hearn is correct about his view of Golovkin being stronger at super middleweight, he could shock the world by defeating Canelo.
The reason boxing fans are writing Golovkin off is that he hasn’t looked overly impressive in his last four fights against these fighters:
- Ryota Murata
- Kamil Szeremeta
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko
- Steve Rolls
In the last four years since the Vanes Martirosyan fight in 2018, Golovkin has looked drained & heavily fatigued during the weigh-ins.
This writer noticed that Golovkin looked worn out in making weight in each of those fights, even in his second fight with Canelo.
You couldn’t blame Golovkin for choosing not to go up to 168 in 2018 because the weight class was barren of famous fighters after Andre Ward retired.
“And obviously, if Canelo Alvarez beats Dmitry Bivol, a fight between the two will be at 168, and that will benefit Gennadiy Golovkin, no doubt about it,” said Hearn.
As far as the weight goes, Golovkin isn’t going to reject that idea. He just wants the third fight with Canelo to prove once and for all that he’s the better fighter of the two.
It would be interesting if Golovkin was revitalized at 168 and became the wrecking machine that he was between 2011 and 2017.
“Canelo is not a massive super middleweight. Those extra lbs are going to really help the tank of Gennadiy Golovkin,” said Hearn.
Golovkin should be more energetic at 168, and if he’s able to start fast against Canelo, he could take the judges out of the equation.
If Golovkin had done up in weight, he’d have had nobody to fight. Of course, the Kazakhstan fighter might as well have moved up to 168 in 2018 anyways because he’s chosen not to fight talented fighters at 160, Jermall Charlo and Demetrius Andrade.
Instead of fighting those guys, Golovkin has been taking stay-busy fights at 160 after signing a six-fight contract with DAZN.
It’s believed that Golovkin has chosen to take non-risky fights while waiting for Canelo to fight him again for the trilogy match. Little did Golovkin and DAZN know that it would take Canelo four years before he finally relented to face him again.
Last Saturday night, in his middleweight unification fight against WBA 160-lb champion Ryota Murata, Golovkin looked drained from making weight the previous day. He was tired even in the early rounds.
