GGG – Gennady Golovkin
By Riley Perez
There is no shortage of hard hitting fighters that have captured the attention of the boxing world. Some have assumed a nom de guerre that other fighters call up to remind us all of their legendary status: Sugar, Kid Gavilan, The Hit man, Iron Mike, Marvelous, and the list goes on. But, there is one warrior who goes by an acronym: GGG, for Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin, whom has the fight world at attention. GGG has an impressive record of 30 Wins, 0 Losses, with 27 wins by KO (90%). An impressive record on its own, but combined with an amateur record of 345 Wins and only 5 Losses, and a Silver medal from the 2004 Athens Olympics, any future opponent has to take notice.
I spoke with Super Middleweight, Tyrell Hendrix (11W, 5L) who served as a sparring partner against GGG several years back. In one session of sparring Hendrix would drop GGG. (This is the fight game; they both have two hands) Soon after that Hendrix said he began to feel life altering shots tag him throughout his body. The punishing punches would not let up as the weeks went on – Hendrix is a believer in the natural power that GGG is said to possess.
Middleweights have always giving boxing fans every cent of their entertaining dollar. Names like Sugar Ray Robinson, Emile Griffin, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, and Leonard paved the way for Hopkins, Trinidad, Taylor and now GGG.
As impressive as GGG 27Ko’s are, I have been a part of an ongoing discussion: who has GGG fought? In answering that I reviewed a list of his opponents and have come across only two that are worthy of mention: Gabriel Rosado (21W, 8 l) and Kassim Ouma (28W, 8L). Rosado fought GGG in 2013 and has fought – and lost – J’Leon Love, Peter Quillon, and Jermell Charllo. Ouma only fought once after GGG, a six rounder that he won.
Has GGG faced anyone besides Rosado and Ouma? Past middleweights like Bernard Hopkins fought – and beat – Felix Trinidad, then later faced Jermaine Taylor( Hopkins lost both fights); Taylor fought Ouma, Spinks and then Kelly Pavlik; Pavlik KO’d Taylor, but would later loose to Hopkins; Pavlik would show his relevance as a 160 pounder when he beat Marco Antonio Rubio, El Veneno.
This may be the defining moment for GGG. Rubio has a record of 59 Wins, 6 Losses, with 51 of his wins by KO. Although, this could be just a high profile name on GGG record, considering that Rubio has seen his share of wars. Is Rubio past his prime? Will GGG walk through Rubio and claim supremacy? Will a Cotto or Peter Quillon matchup be what we need to see before we crown GGG the Greatest? On October 18, 2014, GGG will face El Veneno. There will be blood.
