Triple G Gets No Respect

Triple G Gets No Respect
By: ​Ronald Neal Goldman

You would think that with Gennady Golovkin’s reputation as judge, jury and executioner, that, is never having to rely on the outcome of a fight in the hands of the judges, (whether they be biased, inexperienced, or simply atrociously deficient at assessing a boxing match) a benefit of being the most consistently KO artist in the game, he would deserve more respect. You would also be wrong, on a variety of levels, the least of which is the logistically sparse availability of actual legitimate middleweight contenders.

While the Canelo Alvarez/ Golovkin matchup would be the fight most fans would gladly offer their first born to see, for the boxing purist, however, it is a no win situation for the Kazakh counter-punching phenomenon. Even if Canelo put aside his allegiance to the Golden Boy hierarchy,–which he would not- or go rogue by perpetuating the machismo Mexican heritage by fighting anyone at anytime- which he probably would – thereby taking the dead man walking path, so what? Instead, Saul chose the Liam Smith path of least resistance, prudent, albeit competitively challenged. A win over Canelo, (Mexico’s superstar would have a better shot as Trump’s running mate than beating Golovkin) would just mean that Golovkin beat, (finesse prevents me from employing a more suitable verb), a 155 pound contender, not exactly a middleweight. Should Gennady move up to 160 or 168, with the exception of Carl Froch – retired- and Andre Ward, training for his warmup fight against Alexander Brand in preparation for the Kovalev showdown, there are no “it” fighters at 160 or 168 that would finally and deservedly trumpet GGG into fiscal and fisticuff stardom. The PPV mega dollars simply wont be there if he goes north.

In resume vernacular, Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin is overqualified. While James DeGale and Badou Jack are excitingly competent fighters in their divisions, so were Daniel Geale and David Lemeaux; need I say more? Newest on the triple G pot of gold sweepstakes are Chris Eubank Jr. and Kel Brook Of formidable lineage Chris would make for an interesting challenge, no more no less. More intriguing, however, is Kell Brook. I’m not sure whether it’s the proverbial pissing contest between Britain’s Amir Kahn and Kell Brook over who made the more imprudent decision of their next opponents, or sheer absence of cerebral reasoning, now that Brook ( two, not one, weight classes above his own) has s signed on to challenge Golovkin in September. Either way, Genaddy loses when he wins.

Having the highest knockout percentage in middleweight history, and the uncanny skill of minimizing the area inside the squared circle as he deceptively stalks an opponent, it is near impossible to architect a plan that would nullify the unbeaten middleweight’s skills, a concept not lost on many would-be challengers, especially once his power is felt, then, for however long it takes, the challenger’s mode goes from plan A to survival. With almost all of the major Middleweight belts in Golovkin’s possession and the legions of fans flourishing by the day, it is the respect accorded Floyd, Oscar and Roy that is within his grasp yet, like Rodney Dangerfeld doesn’t get any.

Ronald Neal Goldman
professor of English
Touro College and University System