By Radio Rahim
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach has tabbed IBO/IBF/WBA/WBC middleweight world champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs) as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He says Golovkin has taken over the pound-for-pound throne since last September's retirement of Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Golovkin will return to the ring on September 10th, when he defends his titles against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook, who moves up by two full weight division to meet GGG at 160-pounds.
"I think Triple G is the best fighter, pound for pound, in the world today," Roach told BoxingScene.com.
Some people would disagree with Roach. There are many who view former super middleweight king Andre Ward (29-0, 15KOs) as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. Ward is scheduled to face Alexander Brand on August 6th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, and if he's successful he will challenge Sergey Kovalev for the IBF, WBA, WBO light heavyweight titles on November 19th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Roach has not been very impressed with Ward's return to the sport. Last June, the Olympic gold medal winner returned for the fist time since the fall of 2013 and stopped an overmatched Paul Smith. He then stepped back in the ring this past March, and dominated Sullivan Barrera. Roach felt Smith had no business being in the ring with Ward and Barrera was too inexperienced.
And, Roach is not that impressed with Kovalev after watching him struggle a bit this past Monday night in a victory over huge underdog Isaac Chilemba.
"What's [Ward] done lately? Since his retirement, his two comeback fights were not too good. And then his next opponent didn't look too good either," Roach said.