By Jake Donovan
Gennady Golovkin has affirmed his place as the best middleweight in the world, to where essentially any divisional contender he faces is viewed as a mismatch. Willie Monroe Jr. represents the worst case scenario of an optional title defense, with Golovkin as high as an 80-1 favorite in their May 16 clash, which airs live on HBO from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Until the unbeaten knockout artist is able to get his fellow titlists – including World middleweight champion Miguel Cotto – in the ring, his team has to search for new ways to maintain focus and interest. In selecting Monroe Jr. (19-1, 6KOs) for this bout, Golovkin will have to deal with a slick southpaw who has never been dropped or stopped and also comes in at the hottest point of his career.
“I want to fight a southpaw because I want to show everybody that I can beat any style, it doesn’t matter,” insists Golovkin (31-0, 28KOs), who has scored 19 straight knockouts while racking up 13 consecutive middleweight title defenses. “Anybody, strong guy, tall guy, short guy, just anybody. I’m very anxious. This is a big test for me.
“I remember a lot of fighters, like Canelo (Alvarez), Cotto, and a lot of great champions have problems with southpaws. So why not test myself.”
The claim sounds odd considering Golovkin – as mentioned earlier – is a massive favorite to remain an unbeaten middleweight titlist by night’s end.
Still, his team believes that the May 16 bout could represent one of the more difficult nights of his career given what Monroe Jr. brings to the table. In fact, head trainer Abel Sanchez goes as far as to hail the southpaw as one of the best Golovkin has faced to date.
“I think as far as skills and as far as ability in the ring, he’s got to be in the top three, and maybe the top two,” Sanchez claims. “Experience, maybe not quite as experienced as the other guys, but Willie has proven in bigger fights - the (2014 ESPN2 middleweight) Boxcino Tournament for instance - that he can handle himself in the ring, so he’s up there; like I said, (number) one, two, or three. A very, very, very good fighter.
“Golovkin seems to bring (opponents) down to the level that they’re not much for him, but if Willie brings his A game, I think we’re looking at five or six tough rounds, and then the stretch will be who’s got more in the tank.”
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
