why aren't industry articles titling, "Lara Wants Golovkin At 160" - Shields

[The Ninth Layer]

Golovkin has yet to have a single professional fight where he's ever walked in as less than a 10:1 betting favorite.

If Floyd Mayweather were to walk into a ring and 12-0 him like he did Alvarez, people will briefly be bewildered, go and actually look at the names that Golovkin has actually been fighting, and finally point out Golovkin as the unproven hypejob that he is.

At this point, Gennady Golovkin and Sven Ottke are basically in the same conversation.

Erislandy Lara, say what you want about his style, is a known quantity in the boxing world and is arguably the best 154lb fighter on the planet right now; you line up Lara's ten best fight opponents against Golovkin's ten best fight opponents, and Lara's resume takes a fat **** on Golovkin's resume (on top of that, it's not like Lara's ever been blown out in a fight either).

If Golovkin steps in with Lara and blows him out, Golovkin would've finally defeated a tricky, awkward guy (that the boxing world views as legit) in a fashion that no other fighter (on a solid resume) has ever been able to do. Use your head.


The real apprehension, as I see it, is that Golovkin fights Lara, Lara fights like Lara (keeps things long, lands that left when pressure is attempted, "spoils"), Lara fights Golovkin to a 12-round decision, and the whole Golovkin mystique goes up in smoke.

Golovkin would be a huge name on the record of Mayweather, Pacquiao or Alvarez as an undefeated middleweight champion on a string of knockouts in championship fights. I'll agree with you that if Mayweather came into the fight and 12-0'd Golovkin that we would have to look at him a different way. But I also think most people don't feel Mayweather would 12-0 Golovkin. Certainly less people feel that way now than did people about Alvarez going into the Mayweather fight. It's the way Golovkin is beating people that has put him in high esteem, you can't say the same about Alvarez or for that matter Lara.

I agree with you that it is arguable whether or not Lara is the best 154-lber. I don't know if I would pick him to beat Andrade, maybe I would give him the edge over the Charlos. He's the best fighter in a weak division. He's probably the most well-known among top fighters, but a lot of that comes from his fight with Canelo which, let's be honest, he did not impress in.

Lara's record on paper isn't that great, it's better if you give him the credit for Paul Williams (I do) and Canelo Alvarez (I don't) and some of his wins like Angulo stand as impressive wins even if a win over Angulo himself doesn't look so impressive. Lara doesn't have a great official win to point to, and I don't feel he fought a peak Paul Williams either. Are Vanes Martirosyan and Austin Trout better victories than Martin Murray and David Lemieux? I don't think so.

You are right that a big apprehension on the part of GGG and his team fighting Lara will be that Lara comes in, frustrates him for 12 rounds without himself looking any good, and GGG exits the fight looking a lot more beatable. For a risk like that to be worth it there has to be an upside. There is no upside for GGG if he beats the smaller Lara, he'll just have another name on his record that after the fact will not look as great. The downside is of course that the fight is bad, people start to think "this GGG guy is boring..." and there goes some viewership in the next fight.

The general public just does not consider Lara a great threat to Golovkin. They will compare how he did against Canelo (held his own) and substitute Golovkin and envision a thrashing. I think this is true of most hardcore fans too. I give Lara a chance to beat him but not a very good one, and yes I think his chances against GGG are worse than Khan's were against Canelo. Nobody believes Eubank Jr. will beat Golovkin but at least he will probably give him a good show of it. Meanwhile fans still remember Canelo-Lara and won't want to watch what could turn into a repeat of it, no matter how much of a "challenge" it would represent to Golovkin. Fight fans want to see fights, Golovkin is being sold as a fight fan's fighter.

[Motorcity Cobra]

Not sure about your numbers. Lara did 450k on spike, that's terrible. I didn't say Lemieux is better known, but he doesn't get booed almost every time out. He got significantly more viewers on HBO vs Rosado than Lara's career best rating, vs much better known Pwill

http://www.boxingscene.com/lemieux-r...viewers--85119

That was a Terrance Crawford card. I'm talking headlining his own card. How many people tune in to see Lemieux? HBO wouldn't even show his fight against N'dam and Yvon Michael promised them he wouldn't take legal action if they did.

http://mmapayout.com/category/boxing...ing-champions/

[The Ninth Layer]

Erislandy Lara has never been dominated in a fight and has been in fights with guys that are bigger than Golovkin and his camp have ever admitted to being (Alvarez, Angulo, Trout, Ronald Hearns[talent is whatever], and Vanes Martirosyan are all physically bigger and with more shown dimensions than Golovkin is).

Erislandy Lara is 5'9, has a 74" reach (4" longer than Golovkin's), has almost a dozen world-level fights under his belt, and likely walks into the ring for any fight north of 165lbs in his own right.

Use your eyes and your brain; don't let the gimmicks trick you out of your position. If Lara was anywhere near the soft touch that you want to think, why are K2 so deliberately acting as if the man doesn't even exist (when the media story is that the entire world is so afraid of Golovkin that no fighter would even fathom fighting him)?

My eyes and my brain tell me that a pressure fighter like Angulo was all over Lara, gave him hell and nearly took him out. Canelo who by no means is an exceptional fighter had him backing up and caught him plenty. Golovkin is a better pressure fighter than either guy, not to mention a far better finisher. He has a granite chin, which nobody expects Lara to dent, and a devastating jab.

There's a chance Lara could make it a sloppy, tricky outside fight and stay competitive through 12 rounds. It's not a victory that many people are clamoring to see, though. And Lara on his face will look worse to casual observers than any current top 10 middleweight.

If Lara had competed once in the middleweight division I would agree with you that he's a better choice for Golovkin than a Eubank Jr. Right now though he's worse. At least people can envision Eubank hurting Golovkin at some point.

[HeroBando]

That was a Terrance Crawford card. I'm talking headlining his own card. How many people tune in to see Lemieux? HBO wouldn't even show his fight against N'dam and Yvon Michael promised them he wouldn't take legal action if they did.

http://mmapayout.com/category/boxing...ing-champions/

That was not Crawford's card, you misread that. It says it did better than Crawford one week prior

[Scipio2009]

golovkin has 6 top 10 MWs on his resume, has been ducked by virtually every top 10 MW of the last 2-3 years, and he's top 3 on any decent p4p list. Tbrb included.


if you can't see the difference between a green canelo at 152 and a grown man on the p4p at 160 you're f#cking crazy.

beating the #10 MW six times doesn't make a resume; I know folks love to ignore context, but you've got to acknowledge reality.

Golovkin has been ducked by all of two people; Felix Sturm and Sergio Martinez; every other "duck" has been slip service pushed by his camp (K2 getting put on blast for lowballing Billy Joe Saunders, on a fight where most of the event's actual revenues would derive from the UK, and paying Willie Monroe Jr[a guy that they wanted to push as being a more meaningful fight than Erislandy Lara] $100k makes it pretty obvious that K2 is funny with the money).

With Golovkin demonstrably ducking Andre Ward and his camp seemingly wanting no part of Erislandy Lara, I'd call that even on the ducks, lol.

If you earnestly believe that Gennady Golovkin, yet to ever fight anyone even kind of considered quality, is a top-5 p4p fighter, you played yourself.

[Larry the boss]

What does Lara offer GGG? Golovkin is trying to unify the middleweight division. Lara is not a middleweight, and does not hold a middleweight strap. So what am I missing?

Id agree if he didnt fight Monroe Jr and his handlers weren't mentioning Ramirez,Retired Froch and Chavez Jr and retired Mayweather

[Lester Tutor]

beating the #10 MW six times doesn't make a resume; I know folks love to ignore context, but you've got to acknowledge reality.

Golovkin has been ducked by all of two people; Felix Sturm and Sergio Martinez; every other "duck" has been slip service pushed by his camp (K2 getting put on blast for lowballing Billy Joe Saunders, on a fight where most of the event's actual revenues would derive from the UK, and paying Willie Monroe Jr[a guy that they wanted to push as being a more meaningful fight than Erislandy Lara] $100k makes it pretty obvious that K2 is funny with the money).

With Golovkin demonstrably ducking Andre Ward and his camp seemingly wanting no part of Erislandy Lara, I'd call that even on the ducks, lol.

If you earnestly believe that Gennady Golovkin, yet to ever fight anyone even kind of considered quality, is a top-5 p4p fighter, you played yourself.

Also Ring Mag published an article which is blocked on this site.

Sullivan Barrera called out Lara for a 164 catch because supposedly Lara had rooted for Ward. As if Abel Sanchez, Barrera's trainer, had nothing to do with that publicity stunt nor connections with Main Events.

How is that less absurd knowing that Abel's camp, hearing Lara vs Golovkin for the last 2 years, had nothing to do with protecting investments and steering pressure away..

day and night. some industry promoters are not going at concealing the obvious

[ThumperMcDougal]

What does Golovkin offer to Floyd, Pacquiao, or Alvarez; none of the names that K2 has been chasing are middleweights (or have any plans at campaigning at middleweight), and Golovkin has barely any interest at ever fighting below 160, let alone campaigning at 154.

No one has anything to say, when the lens is turned on Golovkin, which is odd.

Lara is a known quantity (and is clearly a world-level fighter), is willing to fight at whatever weight Golovkin wants the fight at, and would walk into a fight with Golovkin as the best or second best name on the man's entire resume.

You can't have it both ways

It's the same thing. GGG wanting Mayweather and Pacquiao is strictly a business decision. Same with Canelo, except Canelo had the WBC middleweight title... so that made it also a business mandatory.

Lara is looking for his slice of the business pie... and he's asking for GGG. It's one sided business for Lara imo. I wouldn't mind seeing this fight at all... I was just asking what was in it for Golovkin?

you're clearly trolling mate. Lara is #1 154 and respected Champion. Since when are #1's not welcomed to move up a class? lol

Not trolling. Just asking what business sense did it make for GGG. I would think he would make a Lara kind of fight after he unified first.

So you don't want to see the two best in these division's fight? Did you not watch Ward Vs Dawson?

Yep, I'd love to see Lara and Golovkin fight. Just like you.

[ThumperMcDougal]

Id agree if he didnt fight Monroe Jr and his handlers weren't mentioning Ramirez,Retired Froch and Chavez Jr and retired Mayweather

See above posts haha

[Scipio2009]

Golovkin would be a huge name on the record of Mayweather, Pacquiao or Alvarez as an undefeated middleweight champion on a string of knockouts in championship fights. I'll agree with you that if Mayweather came into the fight and 12-0'd Golovkin that we would have to look at him a different way. But I also think most people don't feel Mayweather would 12-0 Golovkin. Certainly less people feel that way now than did people about Alvarez going into the Mayweather fight. It's the way Golovkin is beating people that has put him in high esteem, you can't say the same about Alvarez or for that matter Lara.

I agree with you that it is arguable whether or not Lara is the best 154-lber. I don't know if I would pick him to beat Andrade, maybe I would give him the edge over the Charlos. He's the best fighter in a weak division. He's probably the most well-known among top fighters, but a lot of that comes from his fight with Canelo which, let's be honest, he did not impress in.

Lara's record on paper isn't that great, it's better if you give him the credit for Paul Williams (I do) and Canelo Alvarez (I don't) and some of his wins like Angulo stand as impressive wins even if a win over Angulo himself doesn't look so impressive. Lara doesn't have a great official win to point to, and I don't feel he fought a peak Paul Williams either. Are Vanes Martirosyan and Austin Trout better victories than Martin Murray and David Lemieux? I don't think so.

You are right that a big apprehension on the part of GGG and his team fighting Lara will be that Lara comes in, frustrates him for 12 rounds without himself looking any good, and GGG exits the fight looking a lot more beatable. For a risk like that to be worth it there has to be an upside. There is no upside for GGG if he beats the smaller Lara, he'll just have another name on his record that after the fact will not look as great. The downside is of course that the fight is bad, people start to think "this GGG guy is boring..." and there goes some viewership in the next fight.

The general public just does not consider Lara a great threat to Golovkin. They will compare how he did against Canelo (held his own) and substitute Golovkin and envision a thrashing. I think this is true of most hardcore fans too. I give Lara a chance to beat him but not a very good one, and yes I think his chances against GGG are worse than Khan's were against Canelo. Nobody believes Eubank Jr. will beat Golovkin but at least he will probably give him a good show of it. Meanwhile fans still remember Canelo-Lara and won't want to watch what could turn into a repeat of it, no matter how much of a "challenge" it would represent to Golovkin. Fight fans want to see fights, Golovkin is being sold as a fight fan's fighter.

Golovkin is HBO's "Great Asiatic Hope"; why folks seem so willfully able to ignore the fact that Golovkin has yet to actually fight anyone is beyond me.

Alvarez was definitely up against it before the Floyd fight, but the fact that he was so much physically bigger than Floyd, while also having the performance that he had against Austin Trout (who, in routing Miguel Cotto, showed himself to be a real solid guy at 154), opened the mind to Alvarez having a chance.

Golovkin, to hear folks tell it, is physically smaller than Alvarez and has yet to fight anyone worth fighting, with the best guy on the resume (on pure fighting ability) likely being MW almost man Martin Murray. People talk about apprehension about the fight, but if Mayweather-Golovkin is made tomorrow, counting Floyd's performance in the Berto fight, he'd still open up a 3:1 favorite at the sportsbook (Floyd having more than enough time to get himself all the way back physically fit, Floyd's boxing brain being world's beyond Golovkin's, and Golovkin's camp's insistence on not even giving up an ounce of weight for his shot at the meal ticket signalling a far more physically taxing job of dragging a 34-year old career middleweight down another 6 pounds from his cut to 160).

Golovkin fighting Erislandy Lara would be akin to Alvarez's fight with Austin Trout; after years of flashing ability, Golovkin is finally put in with a guy that the general boxing public can see can fight, and we see how good Golovkin is really. If Golovkin simply blows Lara out, what folks though they were seeing is shown to be legit, and now it's up to finding out where his actual ceiling is.

Canelo Alvarez has a chance at possibly being a great fighter (and not just a great draw) because he took the initiative to fight guys like Trout, Lara, and Floyd(arguably too soon); the performances against Cotto and Khan helped solidify the fact that Alvarez is really good. Whether he ever earns his place as a p4p fighter is on him, but he's now got the resume to be in that consideration.

Gennady Golovkin does not, imo; K2/HBO are trying to manufacture a drawing star without ever actually fighting anyone dangerous, which is sad.