First question: Who can beat Gennady Golovkin at 160lbs?
Second question: Who can give him something approaching a real contest?
Much avoided by the top players at middleweight, Golovkin has been resigned to wasting all the other contenders around him. Tonight, Marco Antonio Rubio came in game (and overweight, two pounds over the contracted 160lb limit and weighing 181lbs in the ring to Golovkin’s 173lbs) and in the first round seemed willing to trade punches with Golovkin, having a bit of success.
But Rubio soon lost his drive in the second round once Golovkin started hitting him back with real force. A superb right uppercut off of a half-thrown left hook started Rubio’s demise, and a barrage on the ropes, capped off with an awkward left hook that displayed Golovkin’s unique offence and pure power, had Rubio on the deck.
He rose before the ten count could be administered, but was done. He protested somewhat, but allowing the fight to continue might have seen him properly laid out, and there was no need.
Golovkin has a Carlos Monzon-esque tendency to start his punches off slow, then speed up the delivery as he turns the punch over. This makes him a difficult puncher to brace yourself for. Add this to his offensive variety, timing, ability to cut off the ring and a chin that appears to be Adamantium and you have perhaps one of the most formidable all-round fighters of the modern era.
But who will allow him to prove his superiority over the field? Golovkin missed out on a showdown with former divisional kingpin Sergio Martinez, and the beloved Miguel Cotto’s name hasn’t been seen alongside Golovkin. Regardless, when pressed by Max Kellerman after the fight Golovkin called out Cotto (who holds the WBC/lineal middleweight championship) and seemed open to a bout with one of the best junior middleweights around, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
Either of those fights would be huge. After another routine demolition job for Golovkin, let’s hope that a bout of real intrigue can be made next.