By Lyle Fitzsimmons

Life would be a lot easier if Gennady Golovkin bounced balls or slapped pucks.

That way, the multi-belt middleweight title claimant would be able to prove his claims of athletic superiority by simply beating the would-be competition in front of him and waiting for the other side of the bracket to supply a suitable victim for him in an ultimate championship setting.

But boxing is neither basketball nor hockey, which makes Golovkin’s challenge unique.

No matter how many overmatched or outgunned wannabes arrive at Golovkin’s doorstep across the ring, there’s no guarantee the rampaging Kazakhstan native and his streak of 23 consecutive stoppages will ever get to the more lucrative side of the competitive fence.

Though abdicated lineal 160-pound champ Canelo Alvarez drops his rival’s name with competitive regularity and promoter Oscar De La Hoya mentions it amid marketing hyperbole, neither man is compelled to make the match unless or until it makes business sense.

Alvarez, following his defeat of outgunned 154-pounder Liam Smith on Saturday, went so far as to suggest Team Golovkin had rejected a recent offer.

Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler, didn’t confirm or deny Alvarez’s assertion.

“I’m in contact with Golden Boy and we’re in discussions, but no sense to negotiate in the media for the biggest fight in boxing,” he told me. “GGG wants to do that fight as soon as possible, that’s why we will continue to discuss to see what’s realistic to try to make that fight happen.”

Of course, given the sort of fate Golovkin’s most recent foes have met with, it’s no more likely the situation will change anytime soon.

“Fighters with options simply don’t get in the ring with Triple-G,” HBO’s Max Kellerman gushed on a recent Golovkin fight broadcast. “Why would they?”

Even reigning welterweight champion Kell Brook provided little more than an early rounds speed bump for Golovkin in his ambitious challenge earlier this month, faring well across a few three-minute stretches before ultimately having his face bashed to the point of a voluntary corner surrender.

For Golovkin, it was quick, decisive and violent—all the elements that have transformed him from anonymous European hit man to a must-see TV entity since his premium-cable debut four years ago.

Still, once his O2 Arena celebration ended, the aforementioned reality hadn’t changed.

In order for Triple-G to trade in his “most feared” label for one that reads closer to “most accomplished,” the fact remains that he needs a proactive step in pursuit of that new validity.

Which means, rather than subsisting on the diet of Willie Monroes, Martin Murrays and Daniel Geales that’s kept him going since he first claimed the IBO’s title strap in December 2011—or longing for big-name quarry to step up from 147 or 154 pounds—it’s high time Golovkin attempts a ladder climb of his own.

Call it the Bernard Hopkins plan.

Though Kellerman likened Golovkin’s situation to Marvin Hagler’s in the 1980s—when the middleweight king waited for smaller foes to help “get him over”—it would probably be more prudent (and lucrative) for Golovkin to forget begging for Canelo and instead take his “predator” act to 168 and 175 pounds.

Lest anyone forget, Hopkins was the top middleweight of the early 2000s and racked up 20 title defenses before hanging around long enough to be twice bested by Jermain Taylor in late 2005.

But unlike Hagler after his loss to Ray Leonard, B-Hop soldiered on, climbed two divisions to reinvent himself against Antonio Tarver the following year and went on to attract big-name foes such as Winky Wright, Joe Calzaghe, Roy Jones Jr., Chad Dawson and Sergey Kovalev in a stunningly compelling second act.

And though a now-34-year-old Golovkin seems in no danger of being upset at 160 pounds anytime soon, he also doesn’t appear on the verge of a big fight, which makes a reinvention of his own even more vital.

Some of the higher-rung options might want him just as much, too.

Pending the result of their own encounter this November, either Andre Ward or Sergey Kovalev might provide a far easier target for Golovkin when it comes to landing a marquee match.

A duel featuring a pair of unbeaten champions in their early 30s would certainly move the HBO needle farther for Golovkin than a series of Monroe encounters ever could.

Prior to Ward’s ascension, Kovalev had a situation at 175 that’s similar to Golovkin’s at 160. He built a quality resume KO’ing the flotsam and jetsam of the light heavyweight ranks, but had been unable to convince the quarry he’d most desired—Adonis Stevenson—to sign a contract.

If he beats Ward, quitting that chase to take on a rising “middleweight monster” might be a welcome alternative.

The bottom line for Golovkin, even with 23 straight KOs, passion from HBO and a title reign that many feel is the most legitimate—if not the most lineal—at 160, is that it will take creativity to earn a spotlight.

If he wants a marquee fight with a star commodity, he and his handlers are going to need to make the prospect so competitively appealing that the risk of physical damage takes a distant back seat.

After all, you can’t win the big fight unless you get the big fight.

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This week’s title fight schedule:

SATURDAY
WBA lightweight title -- Manchester, United Kingdom
Anthony Crolla (champion/No. 4 IWBR) vs. Jorge Linares (Unranked WBA/No. 3 IWBR)
Crolla (31-4-3, 13 KO): Second title defense; Unbeaten in 10 fights since 2012 (7-0-3, 4 KO)
Linares (40-3, 27 KO): Tenth title fight (7-2); Held titles at 126 (WBC), 130 (WBA) and 135 (WBC) pounds
Fitzbitz says: Linares has done a nice job rebuilding his career since a 4-3 stretch from 2009-12, though he’s not fought in 11 months. Crolla is a talented guy, but it seems like Linares’ fight to lose. Linares in 8

Last week’s picks: 3-1 (WON: Yamanaka, Hasegawa, Alvarez; LOSS: Glowacki)
2016 picks record: 68-19 (78.1 percent)
Overall picks record: 800-267 (74.9 percent)

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.