Golovkin can punch so hard that when he gets a guy out of there early or a guy perpetuates early, it's not surprising to me. I think that he should get Murray out of there in 6 to 8 rounds. I give Murray a chance to go a little bit longer because in his mind, he's an undefeated fighter and he has a really big frame on him. He's not a big puncher, but if you look at tape of him, you're like, "Man, this is a really big guy." So I think he must have a big bone structure. He's one of the biggest middleweights I've seen. I think he should be able to absorb the punishment for a little while, but I think that Golovkin is just...Golovkin, to me, is a special fighter. I know people question his competition, but I always say, "Tell me who he has ducked at 160 and then we can talk."
He's still destroying top-notch guys. Guys like Matthew Macklin, that guy was okay against Sergio Martinez to defend his title against, but Golovkin knocks him out and everybody says he's a bum. And he gave Martinez hell. Daniel Geale was another guy who was a quality guy, but when Golovkin stopped him, it was like, "Oh God, he's a bum." I've been around boxing a long time, man, and when a guy gets to train 8 weeks for you and he's a top class guy, he doesn't have to be a Hall of Famer or a great fighter, but just a top level guy, it's always an accomplishment to decisively beat a guy that gets to train for 8 weeks and is a top level fighter. So I'm impressed with Golovkin. I think you've got special vs. good and special usually beats good. I think it may take Golovkin a little longer because this guy is a little bigger, but I don't see any controversy or a super close fight.
I watched Martin Murray real good just to get insight on the fight and I think that the way he holds his hands, he kind of holds his hands up and in and that's bad news against Golovkin because Golovkin comes around your elbows with vicious body shots and you don't want to sit in front of him with your hands up and in like that with him. He actually throws uppercuts just so you can bring your hands up and in so then he can come around your elbows. Just from the stance of Murray, he doesn't have a built-in defense for Golovkin, so I can see him getting really hurt from body shots around the elbows. So like I said, I say Golovkin between 6 and 8.
But I will say, I don't see a lot of people assessing fights the way I assess fights, but Murray can fight over his head and be better than he's ever been before and be mentally in a place where he just goes to the afterworld on that night. I've seen it happen. I've seen guys fight the perfect fight when they looked like they were up against it. Buster Douglas did it. I saw Buddy McGirt do it against Simon Brown when Simon Brown was wrecking people and people thought Buddy McGirt was on the other side. Remember, Buddy McGirt pretty much fought the perfect fight against him. Frankie Randle did it against Chavez. If you go to the afterworld and just be better than you've ever been before, honestly, it can happen. His state of mind has to be on cloud nine and he's saying all of the right things. Boxing is spiritual and mental, and mentally, if he can take the shit that Golovkin is throwing and he raises his punch output, then we got a fight. I don't know if he could go to that place, but people don't break things down like that. But I tell guys that all the time, if a dude's fighting over his head, anything can happen, man. Look what Nigel Benn did to my man Gerald McClellan. Nigel Benn was never the same after that, but that particular night, he went to the afterworld. If Murray is inspired by wanting to be great or something we may not even know about, it definitely can happen.
I think Golovkin is a great fighter in the making. Obviously he's gonna have to do some more because his competition level hasn't been outstanding, but there is more than one way to skin a cat. Either you can have longevity and beat a lot of good fighters or you can make it to the top in a short time like say Ray Leonard, who had his career end abruptly, but he fought great fighters in a short period of time. My eyes don't lie to me. You don't win a Silver medal and be a bum. You don't go 345-5 as an amateur and be a bum and excel in amateur competition like that. And you don't handle world-class fighters the way he handles them and be considered a bum. I know guys that was in his camp and I haven't heard nobody come back and say, "Man, that guy is not the truth." I believe the guy is the real deal. But any man can be beat on any given night. You can't take things for granted. You wake up every day, and I don't know about you, but I'm not the same every day. You can just have an off day.
I think people like to detract other people because they like to sound smart. They wanna say, "Ah, when he fights somebody that does this, this is gonna happen." Well guess what, brother; every dog gonna have they day. I don't care who you are, you stick around long enough, you gonna run into the wrong dog on the wrong day. That don't mean they can't fight. People wanna be smart. Well, when he fights somebody that hits him back...guess what, bro; that's the way to beat everybody is to hit them back. People just wanna detract Golovkin because they think it's cool, so when he lose 1 fight out of 40, they gonna be like, "I told you so." That don't mean that the guy can't fight. If he sticks around long enough, or he moves to 68, or one of these young, fast dudes come up from 54, and he's 32 years old now, so maybe when he's 35, he will get beat one day. Anybody can get beat. That doesn't mean you're not a great fighter. I don't get into that. I believe the hype and I think he is a great fighter in the making. A couple more years down the line and people gonna have to recognize him for what he is. He is an outstanding fighter.
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