No lie, this was a headline that greeted me this morning when I went online to check out the latest boxing news:
“INDESTRUCTIBLE Gennady Golovkin struck fear into Canelo by eating the Mexican’s biggest shot that has hurt Amir Khan and Billy Joe Saunders as he proved he had an iron chin.”
Seriously.
Golovkin, the defending IBF middleweight titlist, is set to face WBA paper 160 lb. champ Ryota Murata this Saturday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The boxing media is already doing their kegel exercises in anticipation of doing some serious screen humping this weekend.
One would think that, after such a tepid and cynical run since signing his fat multi-fight deal with DAZN, the man-love would’ve diminished more than it has. But, no. To the true believers, Golovkin is teflon. It wasn’t a deal breaker when he mercilessly axed pretty much everyone who helped bring him to his $100 million deal. Fighting no-hopers on cruise control also wasn’t a deal breaker. Neither was publicly dismissing the challenges of risky, young challengers (thereby becoming the kind of “ducking” millionaire fighter he was once supposed to be running from the sport). Marriages break up. Love affairs fizzle out. But he-man guy crushes, apparently, last forever.
If you’re still on the Gennadiy Golovkin bandwagon at this point, the kindest thing that can be said about you is that you’re a sucker.
For a man who receives such gushing “all-time great” praise and mindless adulation among media simps, the actual black-and-white proof of the Kazakh’s greatness is sorely lacking. Over the course of a 16-year pro career that includes 21 world title fights, Triple G’s only elite-level high-end achievements are a close decision over Daniel Jacobs and a “might’ve deserved a win, maybe” draw versus Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. That’s it. And, in retrospect, maybe Jacobs wasn’t even as good as we thought he was at the time.
Hell, Golovkin was already 12 defenses into his first world title run before he even faced anyone as good as Daniel Geale. Let that sink in.
Golovkin IS an entertaining fighter and there’s a case to be made that he’s the best middleweight in the world at the moment and, maybe, the best since Bernard Hopkins. But there’s nothing tangible, nothing real to prove his greatness in the “all-time” sense or even in the “true greatness” sense.
The Golovkin love, however, is not about proof, it’s about feeling. And no other fighter has tickled the loins of boxing media dopes and middle-aged fans with waning testosterone levels more than Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin.
The man, after all, was sold to fans as the smiling assassin who only exists to kick ass and scare all the sissy millionaire champions into hiding. How could any stodgy “purist” longing for the macho fairy tale of noble warriors fighting only for the love of fighting nobly resist such on-target marketing?
The long-standing free pass given to the Kazakh KO artist is a testament to the loyalty to an image fans and media wanted to buy into. As I wrote previously:
“Looking over a career that has been remarkably hand-rigged and filled with a copious degree of entitlement, GGG rose to prominence fighting smaller men and those stylistically tailor-made to make him look good. A casual look at Golovkin’s resume shows that of twenty “world” title fights, at least ten have come against fighters moving up in weight from at least one division below and none—until Daniel Jacobs and Canelo Alvarez—have come against anyone with the physicality or skill level needed to even make Golovkin breathe hard.
Most interesting, though, is the fact that, while GGG ran through a minefield of deactivated mines at zero risk to himself, his people had no critical eye turned towards them at all. They’ve gotten nothing but free passes from day one and are still coasting from Sergio Martinez not fighting their guy and from two years’ worth of masterful publicity generated in their pursuit of big money middleweight bouts with Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez.”
The media coverage this fight week is peppered with some “but he’s 40” and “can he still do it at 40” talk, but the fawning, blind infatuation is still there. The man has been away from the ring for over 16 months and away from anything resembling a competitive matchup since October of 2019 when Sergiy Derevyanchenko sent him to the hospital in a brutal battle for the vacant IBF title that, arguably, should’ve been his second pro defeat. But, now, he’s back!
And what more appropriate comeback opponent for a man who’s been so carefully guided throughout his career than Ryota Murata-- a top middleweight in name only, a 36-year-old 2-time world titlist who’s yet to fight anyone of real note, unless going 1-1 with both Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam and Rob Brant is considered “of real note.”
Japan’s Murata, like almost everyone ever lined up for Golovkin, is a challenge in name only. Olympic gold medal or not, he lacks the mindset, mental makeup, and all-around fighting style to be anything more than a highlight reel KO for the Triple G sizzle reel. Murata will help make the Golovkin fight an event in Japan, helping sell a mismatch as a real high-end prizefight. That’s about it.
Classic Golovkin.
He travels an easy road painted as a rough road as media and true blue Golovkinites fall all over themselves to justify the free passes he gets. And when the dust settles on his triumphant “title unification” victory over Murata, he’ll move into yet another big money Canelo Alvarez clash where, most likely, boxing karma will finally catch up to him.
Then, of course, the loss will be fluffed off. He was too old. Canelo waited for him to get old. Etcetera, ad infinitum.
The Gennady Golovkin man-love is as real as it is blind...and it ain’t going away. That means, for the foreseeable future, the GGG hustle goes on.