Why Does Gennady Golovkin Fear Greatness?

[Larry the boss]

He doesn't, all this is is timing.

He's in line to unify 160 and potentially get a big fight against Canelo all within a year (this is assuming Canelo beats Cotto). Which is something he's worked his entire career for. He's very close to obtaining his goal.

He can potentially win another belt against Lemieux in October and if all goes well fight Canelo for the lineal & WBC middleweight titles around May. How awesome would that be for Golovkin? Huge.

After that he can fight Ward for an even bigger fight than what it is today (even Ward has said the fight will be bigger with time).

People are impatient. Let Golovkin try to at least accomplish his goal here. If he gets rejected by Canelo/Cotto again, he'll probably fight Ward without the belts regardless. But understand the position he's in, being literally one fight away from a "super fight" (he is mandatory and apparently getting this in writing from the WBC).

Funny when Ward said it he was ducking..now Ward wants the fight now all the sudden we need to be patient...

[ИATAS]

Wouldn't the Canelo fight be bigger if GGG beats Ward?

The Canelo fight would be huge regardless if he beats Ward or not. If Golovkin moves up to 168 and were to beat Ward he could potentially lose his mandatory position. If he were to lose to Ward that would also risk his chances of getting a Canelo fight or at the very least it wouldn't be as big of a fight.

[NEETzsche]

Wouldn't the Canelo fight be bigger if GGG beats Ward?

do you understand how yo-yoing in weight can affect a 33 year old athlete's body?

[ИATAS]

Funny when Ward said it he was ducking..now Ward wants the fight now all the sudden we need to be patient...

I don't know why you always type bullshit like this because I've never once said Ward ducked anyone. If you're going to quote me then quote me directly not quote me and then post some generally speaking bs.

[-PBP-]

show me one example of a great fighter who moved up without fulfilling at least one of the following criteria:

(1) he physically outgrew his division
(2) he exhausted his big fight possibilities in his division
(3) he was moving up to take part in a large ppv event

golovkin ticks none of these boxes yet. the majority of people who follow boxing want to see golovkin clear out middleweight first. detractors like you are a tiny minority and will ultimately have no impact on golovkin's career or his fans' enjoyment of his career

Azumah Nelson/Sweet Pea Whitaker
Roy Jones Jr./John Ruiz
Bernard Hopkins/Antonio Tarver
Joe Calzaghe/Bernard Hopkins
Manny Pacquiao/Antonio Margarito


And no need for that last sentence. Keep it mature or get out.

[-PBP-]

do you understand how yo-yoing in weight can affect a 33 year old athlete's body?

He fights in the ring above 170 pounds already

[-PBP-]

The Canelo fight would be huge regardless if he beats Ward or not. If Golovkin moves up to 168 and were to beat Ward he could potentially lose his mandatory position. If he were to lose to Wardthat would also risk his chances of getting a Canelo fight or at the very least it wouldn't be as big of a fight.

There we go. Now we're getting the answer I was looking for. He isn't taking the Ward fight because he fears losing. By the end of 2015, GGG can stand as the #1 pound for pound boxer in the sport of boxing but he won't grasp at the opportunity because he fears losing.

[BrometheusBob.]

I'm not sure why he has to move up and fight Andre Ward at all, but if he does I'd prefer he not insist on the 164 CW. If he stays at 160 there is still Lemieux, Lee, Quillin, Cotto/Canelo and a couple of decent contenders he can spread out if it turns out not to be easy to make the aforementioned fights. But yes, I am eager to see him against stronger competition as well.

He currently has an offer on the table to fight Andre Ward at 168. A win for GGG over Andre Ward does the following for his career:

1. Puts him #1 on the pound for pound list upon the retirement of Floyd Mayweather

2. Makes him the biggest star in the sport of boxing

3. Makes him a title holder in 2 weight divisions with the opportunity to be lineal champ in 2 weight divisions simultaneously

4. Puts him into the hall of fame immediately (with his current streak of title defenses and his pound for pound status)

5. Would make him the most dominant fighter of the next era of boxing for years to come


Hall of fame fighters in the past capitalized on these opportunities:

Pac moving up 8 weight classes and jumping 2 to defeat De La Hoya
Hopkins jumping 2 to defeat Tarver
Floyd moving up 4 weight classes and moving up to defeat De La Hoya
Jones moving up from MW to HW and winning titles in 4 weight divisions
Duran moving up 2 to defeat Leonard and winning titles at 160 after starting his career at 119
Leonard winning the MW title after starting out at welterweight
Robinson, Armstrong and numerous others all moved up.

Now let's address these counter arguments from the stanboys:

Why don't Floyd be great and move up to fight GGG?

Answer: Floyd's legacy in boxing is established. Now it's GGGs turn.

Moving up is easier for smaller fighters

See Hopkins and Jones above

Does Ward fear greatness by not moving up to fight Kovalev?

Yes. And he missed out on another opportunity for greatness by not moving up to defeat Dawson.


Discuss!!!

What offer? Isn't Andre Ward just talking about how he'd take that fight at 168? I don't think is gone nearly far enough for them to have seriously talked about location, $, etc.

>Hagler never moved up

Answer: Because 168 wasn't really a recognized/established division yet. And if he had the opportunity to face one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world by moving up, I believe he would.

Assuming what Hagler would do is not a very convincing argument. All you can say for sure is that Hagler didn't move up, but also that he definitely wasn't afraid of taking on anyone at 160.

[bigjavi973]

Nothing to discuss... I was laughing when GGG's team & some writers where trying to compare him to Hagler. Just laughable.

Hagler stayed in one division doe!

Go learn something about boxing.

[BigAlexSand]

Agree completely... That's coming from someone who often defends Golovkin. I really don't understand, if Golovkin wants challenges, moving to 168 is a Challenge and most likely will shut up damn near all his critics.