By Peter Silkov
Writer at The Boxing Glove
Gennady
Golovkin overcame 16 months of ring rust and the encroaching shadow
of father time, to stop Ryota Murata in 9 rounds on Saturday night. This win adds Murata’s WBA belt to the IBF title belt which he
already held. The victory reignited GGG’s career, making him a
‘unified champion’ now that he holds two world middleweight title
belts, but this fight was for a lot more than the increasingly random
and frustrating world boxing belts. Murata held the ‘super’ WBA
world championship belt, but then the WBA has a long record of being
able to come up with seemingly never-ending variations of the world
championship belt, from, interim, to regular, and silver to super. In
reality, the belts were an afterthought, this was GGG making his
first appearance in the ring after 16 months of inactivity, against
an opponent who figured to be a worthy test. Fighting just one day
after his 40th birthday, Golovkin was seeking to prove that he is
still a relevant force in the division that he once dominated so
thoroughly, that many top contenders spent their whole careers
avoiding him. It's difficult to remember another world champion in
recent times (aside from Guillermo Rigondeaux) who was reduced to
chasing his challengers rather than having his challengers chase
him.
Canelo made GGG wait
about 5 years before he finally agreed to face him in the ring.
Following a prolonged and acrimonious build-up during which Canelo
played a good impersonation of a blushing bride as he hedged and
dodged fighting GGG until Golovkin was 35 and already showing some
signs of slipping from his formidable peak. In his contest, prior to
the first Canelo match, GGG had been taken the full 12 rounds for the
first time during his title reign after a lackluster performance
against Daniel Jacobs. Canelo’s management had bided their time
masterfully.
The record books will tell you that on September
16th, 2017, Golovkin and Canelo fought each other to a spirited
12-round draw. Then, almost exactly one year later to the day, the
two men met in a rematch with Canelo winning a majority decision,
after another highly charged encounter. The truth though, as many
well-versed boxing followers will tell you, is something rather
different from what is on the record books.
To start with,
very few, (including Canelo’s usually fanatical fan-base) believed
that the first fight should have been anything other than a clear
decision win for GGG. Though the fight was competitive, GGG won many
rounds clearly and dominated with his heavier punching and higher
activity. Yet not for the first time (nor the last, unfortunately)
the fight turned out to be judged by the three blind mice. Even the
one card that voted for GGG was far too close. If the judging of the
first fight was bad, the rematch wasn’t much better. This time the
fight was genuinely closer, with GGG’s superior strength from 12
months earlier having noticeably waned. Was this due to the
encroachment of age (GGG was by now already 36 years old) was there
some other reason for Canelo’s sudden increase in strength? The
whole Mexican meat episode is well known now, yet safely swept under
the carpet by most fans and the media, but the difference in Canelo’s
performance in the space of one year may still be more telling than
some would like to imagine.
The decision itself was again
judged unjust by the majority of the crowd and even Canelo’s
usually die-hard fans greeted the verdict with boos. Canelo had his
‘victory’ and that’s all that mattered in the history of this
gravy machine. Already there were signs that Canelo could never be
beaten on points. Certainly not in front of his fans at the T. Mobile
Arena, Las Vegas.
Four years on, and memories fade fast in
boxing, especially when they are inconvenient. The well-crafted and
expertly guided cash cow has been maneuvered into world titles at two
more weights since his second match with GGG and is now regularly
hailed by many in the press as p4p number one in the world. He is
even feted as the greatest fighter ever produced by Mexico. GGG
meanwhile has been left chasing shadows, trying to recapture the
glory that should have been his but was cruelly taken from him, not
once but twice.
Imagine if Golovkin had officially won those
fights against Canelo, imagine if he had won even one of them? His
career trajectory, his standing in the sport, would be so much
different today.
GGG is not bitter, he doesn’t whine about
the Canelo fights, yet he has spoken strongly about his treatment by
the judges of both those fights and how he believes that he was
robbed of victories twice.
Canelo made GGG wait for 5 years
before their first fight; he has now made him wait for four years for
their 3rd meeting. Turns out GGG fans weren’t wrong when they
claimed that Alvarez would never agree to a third fight until
Golovkin is past his 40th birthday.
On Saturday night Golovkin
entered the ring… one day past his 40th birthday, knowing that a
win against Murata may well open the door for that long-awaited 3rd
match with career nemesis, Canelo. Soon it became clear that with
every fight he has, GGG is now increasingly fighting two opponents
whenever he now enters the ring. His physical opponent and that old
foe of fighters and athletes throughout history, father
time.
Watching GGG now is akin to seeing a classic old rock
band performing in their 60s or 70s, (athletes age faster than
musicians). The brilliance, which once lit up every performance, has
become more of an occasional spark here and there. This might sound
harsh, but it is difficult to imagine the GGG of seven or ten years
ago being troubled by Murata the way he was on Saturday night.
Murata started the match very strongly and with confidence,
which belied his underdog status. To be fair Murata is no spring
chicken himself at 36, but the Japanese-born slugger has only had 18
professional contests compared to GGG's 42, and that comparative
freshness showed, at least in the early rounds of Saturday night's
fight.
The first four
rounds of the fight followed the pattern of both men meeting mid-ring
and trying to attain domination with a continuous exchange of
leather. Though GGG was certainly having his moments, it was Murata
who was able to land more often and with more effect and GGG who was
finding himself in the uncomfortable position of being put onto the
back foot, a position which he has rarely found himself in during his
stellar career.
Golovkin was being drawn into that weird
twilight zone that older fighters begin visiting more and more often
as their careers reach their ends. It is a place where they begin to
find themselves slipping out of time with the present, as they face
fighters who are suddenly faster and stronger and seem to be moving
in a higher gear.
GGG has always been seen as almost the
perfect fighting machine, but the GGG machine spent much of the first
4 rounds misfiring. His defense, never his strongest feature, was
alarmingly porous at times, as Murata’s punches, especially the
right hand, found his time and again. Golovkin's speed, once
razor-sharp, has noticeably waned in recent years, but at times
against Murata, he seemed a significant half-second or so behind the
punching speed of his opponent. Also, of concern was GGG's movement.
Though never a fleet-footed mover, GGG used to use economical and
swift footwork, which always seemed to have him in the right place at
the right time.
On this night though GGG started with legs
that seemed almost rooted to the canvas at times. When he did move it
was with the heavy hesitancy common to the older fighter.
After
four rounds GGG needed to do something to turn the tide in a fight
that seemed to be getting harder and harder for him. GGG found that
something extra in the 5th round and showed again that extra
ingredient that marks out the true champions. The ability to turn a
fight around when visibly up against a faster and stronger opponent.
In the fifth round, the GGG machine finally found a higher
gear, and his hands started to move with greater speed. The real
turning point came midway through the round when a Golovkin punch
ripped Murata’s mouthpiece from his mouth, sending it flying across
the ring.
From that moment Golovkin had reached out of his
personal twilight zone and turned back the clock. From the 5th round
on, Golovkin began gaining the upper hand in the action. The battle was
still raging toe-to-toe, but now it was GGG who was landing more
frequently and beginning to display his wide variety of punches.
With Golovkin in the ascendance, Murata began to slow, as he
began to take more and more punishment. Yet Murata’s courage never
wavered, and at every point where it looked as if GGG was about to
gain overwhelming control, Murata would come back with punches of his
own. Yet Murata’s attacks were becoming more tired and desperate as
the rounds flew by.
GGG may be faded and past his 40th
birthday, but his fitness and determination remain impeccable. This
along with his heart and granite chin has much to do with him finally
overcoming Murata.
One could be
too critical of Golovkin’s performance, and the truth is that though he
is visibly faded in comparison to the GGG of the past, he remains a
formidable and brave fighter. Also, there is the aspect of his 16
months of inactivity before this fight and how much of his early
frailty was down to ring rust rather than a permanent decline. Murata
also deserves credit for his performance and for pushing GGG into
such a difficult fight.
This fight underlined that GGG while
not the fighting machine of the past remains formidable and with the
kind of fitness that would still push the very best at his weight.
With this win, GGG has reignited his career, and his visible
vulnerability is liable to make him a more attractive prospect to
many top fighters.
But what now for Golovkin?
Though
there will be several options that GGG could follow right now, one
looms large above all the others. As much as he might not want to
admit it, and even with two world title belts to his name, GGG is
still chasing. He is chasing that elusive 3rd fight with Canelo
Alvarez, and a final chance to inflict an official defeat upon the
man many feel he has already beaten twice.
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| photo: dazn |
After
the second match between Golovkin and Canelo, it was a common joke among
some boxing followers (mostly those not blinded by the Canelo media
machine!) that Canelo would probably make Golovkin wait until he was past
40 until he got a third match. Ironically that is what seems to be
about to happen. Canelo and his team have bided their time
masterfully and now GGG seems ripe for the 3rd fight. Still exciting,
still a big draw, but certainly a far less dangerous proposition than
he was four years ago.
Should GGG even take the third fight
with Canelo? He will know now that the chances of gaining a decision
over Canelo are beyond slim, even if he is deserving of it, and
beyond that, there is only the stoppage route to victory, something
which even five years ago GGG wasn’t able to get close to
achieving. For all the hype, dodgy judges, and cherry-picking (not to
mention other shady stuff) there's no doubting Canelo’s toughness.
Whatever may be behind it.
If Golovkin couldn’t stop Canelo 5
years ago, it's highly unlikely that he will be able to stop Canelo
today in his present reduced form.
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| photo: stubhub |
The purpose of a third
fight with GGG for Canelo has always been to score a definitive
defeat over Golovkin. Hence part of the reason for the long wait
between the 2nd and proposed 3rd fights. Canelo has only been
interested in fighting GGG again if he was secure in the belief that
he could score a non-controversial victory this time. Ideally, he
would like to stop or knock out Golovkin.
Canelo still
bristles over the controversy surrounding his two matches with Golovkin and would like nothing better than to end the rivalry with a stoppage
victory over Golovkin.
Certainly, the Golovkin who struggled
with Murata did not look equipped to deal with Canelo at 168 pounds.
Sadly the man who was once a feared and much avoided fighting machine
now seems very mortal and vulnerable. He is ripe for Canelo to pick
for his much-wanted ‘definitive’ victory.
Having followed
Golovkin throughout his spectacular career, and after seeing him robbed by
the judges twice against Canelo, I would rather not see a reduced GGG
fight Canelo a third time at a point in time where it suits no one
but Canelo.
After watching Golovkin battle past Murata, even
taking into account his ring rust and the ability to improve himself
between now and September, it is clear that time has moved on for
GGG. Those tools which once made him the best in the world will never
be quite as sharp nor so deadly again. A fight between Golovkin and Canelo
now would be a poor reflection upon a fair fight between the two in
their primes. GGG was already past his prime when Canelo finally
fought him for the first time and now he is past the point where he
will be a danger to Canelo.
No one knows this more than Canelo
and his team which is why the fight is finally being made.
Golovkin
is a warrior and the chances are that he will still take the third
fight against Canelo despite any advice he may receive to go in a
different direction.
Following their fight, GGG visited Murata’s dressing room and gave him back the WBA belt. It was the kind of classy gesture that makes a true champion and gives a fighter the kind of greatness that can't be bought by a crooked judge's scorecard. GGG may never beat Canelo Alvarez officially on paper, but he holds something over Canelo which is perhaps more precious than any victory in the ring. Integrity. It is that, above all else which underlines Golovkin's true greatness.
No cherry-picking can
beat that.
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