By Radio Rahim
After his two most recent performances, there are some experts who believes IBF, IBO, WBC, WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) is finally slowing down.
Back in September at the O2 Arena in London, he had some issues during his five round stoppage of Kell Brook, who moved up by two full weight divisions to fight him.
And two weeks ago New York's Madison Square Garden, Golovkin went the full twelve round distance for the first time in his career when he won a very close twelve round unanimous decision over mandatory challenger Daniel Jacobs. The outcome also snapped Golovkin's streak of 23 consecutive knockout wins.
Veteran trainer Robert Garcia, who went up against Golovkin in 2014 when GGG knocked out Marco Antonio Rubio, in Los Angeles, believes age has finally begun to catch up with the unified middleweight king.
"Look, Triple G is a hell of a fighter. He has tremendous power. [Golovkin's trainer] Abel Sanchez has done a tremendous job with him. They have accomplished so much since they started until now. They have done well," Garcia told BoxingScene.com.
"I think Triple G, at 35, might be looking at the last few years of his career. It's not his fault that he didn't have big fights earlier in his career, because there was nobody there or nobody that wanted to fight him, so he had to fight guys who very few people knew who they were. Now that he's starting to do it [face better names], it might be a little bit too late."
"I think Jacobs had a great game plan, he fought smart, he did great. I think Triple G did enough to win, but it was close. I think Triple G, four or five years ago, would have knocked Jacobs out. Triple G is still selling out arenas and making millions of dollars, but I think it's just his age. At 35, he's been in boxing all his life, the dieting, the sacrifices, the date comes when your body is no longer the same."
