OK I'm gonna make a real boxing thread... GGG

what you are not seeing is the small things he does with his feet. Also, he doesn't throw the same thing over and over, he changes punches, different punches and when he throws the same punches there is a problem for the other fighter: If you watch closely, he might tap you with one kind of punch, 1,2,3 times, but he will also hit you with the same punch very hard once in a while and you don't see it coming. So you never know what to expect from him, you can't get in a "balanced mood" against Golovkin because you never know what is coming. If the "recto" doesn't get you, he might try an upper, or a swinging shot to the liver. Some guys don't see any of this because they have never been in a ring and it is really difficult to understand all the small things the mf does. Shifting is just another thing he does pretty well. He makes anyone else look ordinary. You guys want the big fights, i want them too, but fast, not i a couple of years. I appreciate his skill set and think he has some of the best timing in boxing as well as positioning. I see those things, but for the most part he has fought at his tempo to his advantages in his fights. Great fighters do that, but other great fighters may find holes in his game. Like I said he is a very very technically skilled boxer, no question about it, just want to see what happens when he has to move at a pace he doesn't dictate.

Wayy wrong on the catch-and-counter. His reflexes are top notch, don't think he's "vulnerable" to counters. Don't get me wrong - everyone gets countered, including Floyd and Ward - so will Golovkin. He does look silly when he's being backed up, and potentially it CAN be a weakness. But here's the thing - in order to back someone up efficiently, you need to dictate the pace of the fight. To do that, you need to go toe-to-toe with your opponent, and there's only a limited amount of fighters that are willing to do that. Golovkin does look silly when he's being backed up - but the person who's 'backing' him up is usually much more off balance because he's throwing hail mary flurries. I like GGG's defensive style. It reminds me of Lomanchenko as he manipulates opponents defense as a primary means of offense. He not only parries but he moves you, he not only smothers with distance but actively with his arms. He dictates how you can move which is similar to what he was attempting to teach Barrera against Ward with head placement. The catch and shoot wasn't really illustrated in this clip too often (in truth I watched 6+ min) except against a woefully overmatched Rosado and even then it was against a overutilized jab that was ineffective throughout (Rosado doesn't change speeds on his punches often). He is very skilled and has great timing, but my countering comment was more related to his response when he doesn't dictate tempo or is fighting off the back foot and has to counter, vs all these examples where he is either at his preferred distance or going forward. Don't want to take away from him I think he is very skilled but i do see flaws.

Good post, but I think trying to back him up is an unwinnable strategy for the time-being. For me Golovkin's most obvious weakness is the slowness with which he turns at times. He has great balance but is very committed to staying in position and not losing that solid stance from which he does everything. When a fighter suddenly pivots they are often around him before he reacts and he resets completely as opposed to gliding into a new position. It's not easy though and he was caught everyone who's tried to move around him sooner or later. The most interesting fight for me was his match with Murray. I thought Murray's mobility was very effective but he didn't have the power to catch Golovkin with eye-catching shots when he picked his moments to attack. Instead he would flurry which was fine but it left the rounds up in the air. While I can see what Golovkin's flaws are I find it hard to see who can capitalise on them. Canelo's combination punching and sharpness in the pocket would set up plenty of scoring opportunities, but he doesn't look to have the gas tank to fight Golovkin on the move. And he doesn't have the ability to stand with him and survive in my opinion. Lara can move but I don't think he has either the volume nor the variety of offense to win enough rounds to get a decision. That's if he can make it the distance. At 168 DeGale and Ramirez look the most likely candidates. I was just thinking of the Murray fight. I thought that he would be big enough (build wise) to take Golovkin power and he almost did (got to the 11th) if Murray had a harder hitting offense I think that things may of been a lot closer. One thing he does do, is if he has figured out that his opponent can't hurt him then he will purposely take a combination or a full blooded shot on purpose and then smile or laugh it off... that is going to cost him one day.

what you are not seeing is the small things he does with his feet. Also, he doesn't throw the same thing over and over, he changes punches, different punches and when he throws the same punches there is a problem for the other fighter: If you watch closely, he might tap you with one kind of punch, 1,2,3 times, but he will also hit you with the same punch very hard once in a while and you don't see it coming. So you never know what to expect from him, you can't get in a "balanced mood" against Golovkin because you never know what is coming. If the "recto" doesn't get you, he might try an upper, or a swinging shot to the liver. Some guys don't see any of this because they have never been in a ring and it is really difficult to understand all the small things the mf does. Shifting is just another thing he does pretty well. He makes anyone else look ordinary. You guys want the big fights, i want them too, but fast, not i a couple of years.

That is true but before the fight people thought it was going to be a battle of sluggers and Golovkin who is not known for his Jab went and out boxed Lemieux. Yes. GGG would have beat Lemieux with his jab alone. That fight made me a true believer in GGG. The other thing about him is that he is always in balance moving forward or back. He can take a punch while delivering knock out power (ref. Geale). This vulnerability at time makes his fights more interesting. Is there anyone in the Division that could beat him? Highly doubtful. Even those that might have a shot are afraid to step in the ring with him.

instead of talking about who's ducking who and which mma fighter can beat a boxer or which promoter is lying. I've been watching triple G fights over the weekend and throughout each he has looked very uncomfortable when fighting off of the back foot. He's great at cutting the ring, he's great at corralling fighters against the ropes but he seems deficient when retreating. His defense is solid but he doesn't catch and shoot/ counter quickly often. I wonder if this is something you can see exploited in his game, especially versus a canelo who likes to come forward. Also, though he is very very fundamentally proficient, he doesn't have extraordinary measurables or atheticism (other than power) and I'm thinking a more athletic fighter that can make him lunge (which he's done when opponent dictates range) can make him vulnerable to counters. Am I seeing this wrong? If you were a trainer would you advise your fighter to simply pray before fighting GGG or what holes in his game would you try to exploit?Wayy wrong on the catch-and-counter. His reflexes are top notch, don't think he's "vulnerable" to counters. Don't get me wrong - everyone gets countered, including Floyd and Ward - so will Golovkin. He does look silly when he's being backed up, and potentially it CAN be a weakness. But here's the thing - in order to back someone up efficiently, you need to dictate the pace of the fight. To do that, you need to go toe-to-toe with your opponent, and there's only a limited amount of fighters that are willing to do that. Golovkin does look silly when he's being backed up - but the person who's 'backing' him up is usually much more off balance because he's throwing hail mary flurries.

his lacking dimension of style definitely doesn't lend itself to fighting bigger men. you tend to doubt that he could use the ring and carry rounds if he had to. what he does have is a great jab, and great timing. he'll be able to do things other than simply plod forward against a bigger fighter. but he'll still likely have to do it coming forward to win i can see him doing fine at 168. there's a lot of parody in that division, and the fighters aren't fantastic. golovkin's got more skill, and probably more power, than anybody at 68. at 175 he'd have to contend with ward's boxing skill. that's different from being forced to back up and find another way to fight, but it's going to be a heck of a lot more difficult to determine the pace and character of a fight with your jab when you're facing a guy naturally 1-2 weigh classes bigger who can box and move kovalev's power, and beterbiev's freakish size and the power that comes with it, are going to give him different kinds of problems. he'd have to back up in spots. maybe even for entire rounds. i don't think he's that kind of fighter.

instead of talking about who's ducking who and which mma fighter can beat a boxer or which promoter is lying. I've been watching triple G fights over the weekend and throughout each he has looked very uncomfortable when fighting off of the back foot. He's great at cutting the ring, he's great at corralling fighters against the ropes but he seems deficient when retreating. His defense is solid but he doesn't catch and shoot/ counter quickly often. I wonder if this is something you can see exploited in his game, especially versus a canelo who likes to come forward. Also, though he is very very fundamentally proficient, he doesn't have extraordinary measurables or atheticism (other than power) and I'm thinking a more athletic fighter that can make him lunge (which he's done when opponent dictates range) can make him vulnerable to counters. Am I seeing this wrong? If you were a trainer would you advise your fighter to simply pray before fighting GGG or what holes in his game would you try to exploit? great analysis. Fighters like Dirrell, Lara would trouble him but will have to earn his respect. There arent many fighters who have the style at 160 to push him back. Maybe guys with power like Quillin, and Lee. I think it will have to be a boxer puncher type who has a good defense but will also earn his respect up close

instead of talking about who's ducking who and which mma fighter can beat a boxer or which promoter is lying. I've been watching triple G fights over the weekend and throughout each he has looked very uncomfortable when fighting off of the back foot. He's great at cutting the ring, he's great at corralling fighters against the ropes but he seems deficient when retreating. His defense is solid but he doesn't catch and shoot/ counter quickly often. I wonder if this is something you can see exploited in his game, especially versus a canelo who likes to come forward. Also, though he is very very fundamentally proficient, he doesn't have extraordinary measurables or atheticism (other than power) and I'm thinking a more athletic fighter that can make him lunge (which he's done when opponent dictates range) can make him vulnerable to counters. Am I seeing this wrong? If you were a trainer would you advise your fighter to simply pray before fighting GGG or what holes in his game would you try to exploit? Good post, but I think trying to back him up is an unwinnable strategy for the time-being. For me Golovkin's most obvious weakness is the slowness with which he turns at times. He has great balance but is very committed to staying in position and not losing that solid stance from which he does everything. When a fighter suddenly pivots they are often around him before he reacts and he resets completely as opposed to gliding into a new position. It's not easy though and he was caught everyone who's tried to move around him sooner or later. The most interesting fight for me was his match with Murray. I thought Murray's mobility was very effective but he didn't have the power to catch Golovkin with eye-catching shots when he picked his moments to attack. Instead he would flurry which was fine but it left the rounds up in the air. While I can see what Golovkin's flaws are I find it hard to see who can capitalise on them. Canelo's combination punching and sharpness in the pocket would set up plenty of scoring opportunities, but he doesn't look to have the gas tank to fight Golovkin on the move. And he doesn't have the ability to stand with him and survive in my opinion. Lara can move but I don't think he has either the volume nor the variety of offense to win enough rounds to get a decision. That's if he can make it the distance. At 168 DeGale and Ramirez look the most likely candidates.

To be fair, Lemieux is horrible about guarding against jabs in particular. He showed that flaw even in his most recent fight. He shouldn't be getting tagged as much as he does by jabs. That is true but before the fight people thought it was going to be a battle of sluggers and Golovkin who is not known for his Jab went and out boxed Lemieux.

His most impressive performance IMO was stopping Lemieux in his tracks over and over with the jab. To be fair, Lemieux is horrible about guarding against jabs in particular. He showed that flaw even in his most recent fight. He shouldn't be getting tagged as much as he does by jabs.

His most impressive performance IMO was stopping Lemieux in his tracks over and over with the jab.

instead of talking about who's ducking who and which mma fighter can beat a boxer or which promoter is lying. I've been watching triple G fights over the weekend and throughout each he has looked very uncomfortable when fighting off of the back foot. He's great at cutting the ring, he's great at corralling fighters against the ropes but he seems deficient when retreating. His defense is solid but he doesn't catch and shoot/ counter quickly often. I wonder if this is something you can see exploited in his game, especially versus a canelo who likes to come forward. Also, though he is very very fundamentally proficient, he doesn't have extraordinary measurables or atheticism (other than power) and I'm thinking a more athletic fighter that can make him lunge (which he's done when opponent dictates range) can make him vulnerable to counters. Am I seeing this wrong? If you were a trainer would you advise your fighter to simply pray before fighting GGG or what holes in his game would you try to exploit? I think you're seeing it correctly. Unless a guy is quick and slick enough to stick and move for 12 rounds against GGG the only way he's going to beat GGG is to FIGHT him and make GGG back up and back up often. That person must also be able to take GGG's punch to do it.

instead of talking about who's ducking who and which mma fighter can beat a boxer or which promoter is lying. I've been watching triple G fights over the weekend and throughout each he has looked very uncomfortable when fighting off of the back foot. He's great at cutting the ring, he's great at corralling fighters against the ropes but he seems deficient when retreating. His defense is solid but he doesn't catch and shoot/ counter quickly often. I wonder if this is something you can see exploited in his game, especially versus a canelo who likes to come forward. Also, though he is very very fundamentally proficient, he doesn't have extraordinary measurables or atheticism (other than power) and I'm thinking a more athletic fighter that can make him lunge (which he's done when opponent dictates range) can make him vulnerable to counters. Am I seeing this wrong? If you were a trainer would you advise your fighter to simply pray before fighting GGG or what holes in his game would you try to exploit? The only fight where Golovkin was fighting off the back foot for any considerable amount of time was against Adama and he was setting a helluva pace. That lasted four rounds and Adama was gassed by the 6th and got KO'd in the 7th. But even though he set that pace and forced Golovkin to fight off the back foot he sustained enough damage in those first four rounds that when Golovkin started coming forward and knocked him out he ended up in hospital with bleeding on the brain. Stevens tried the same thing because he had the same thoughts as you do with this post Also what you not seeing in Golovkins defence is his footwork and shifting. He doesn't cover up and attempt to block as much as he should he may take the punch but the opponent is hardly ever on balance and it ends up as a glancing blow most of the time. Watch the Geale fight again especially the knockout...because of his footwork and balance he was able to Knock Geale out off the backfoot.