Will Golovkin retire as an all time great?

[LoadedWraps]

Easily fits in. Marvin didnt get his shot til his 50th or so fight. Hopkins resume at 160 might be worse than Golovkins.

Good post.

[KingTito]

No. A big thing for me when considering ATG status is who you've beaten, and GGG simply doesn't have the resume. As much as I like him, I can't do that. He'll have to do some miraculous shlt late in his career to pull that off.

[Marcello]

Not on what hes done so far but his career is no over yet.

[TheCell8]

Is this even a question? He's unquestionably an ATG (if he beats Canelo).

You have to consider his pro career AND his amateur career, which was legendary.

- world champion, silver medalist. 345 wins. For just that amateur career alone he belongs there.

Then you factor in his pro career which was also great, although not as great as his amateur career.

When people speak of Golovkin they act like he was this unknown guy who came out of nowhere, had a bunch of knockout wins and HBO got behind him. Completely dismissing that he was a legend in the amateur ranks and paid his dues there.

[wladavit]

He already is..

[Boxing42]

Is this even a question? He's unquestionably an ATG (if he beats Canelo).

You have to consider his pro career AND his amateur career, which was legendary.

- world champion, silver medalist. 345 wins. For just that amateur career alone he belongs there.

Then you factor in his pro career which was also great, although not as great as his amateur career.

When people speak of Golovkin they act like he was this unknown guy who came out of nowhere, had a bunch of knockout wins and HBO got behind him. Completely dismissing that he was a legend in the amateur ranks and paid his dues there.

I agree that’s why I have Audley Harrison above Golovkin

[mcdonalds]

If GGG breaks Hopkins' MW title fight defense record and unifies the division, he would easily be considered and ATG. No question for me.

But lets be honest......his style is not made for longevity and he's already slowing down. He don't have much more time to get a lot more done. He might have two years left in my opinion and it's all down hill from here.

What record? the Regular belt doesn't count

[TheCell8]

I agree that’s why I have Audley Harrison above Golovkin

Audley Harrison had a 46-8 record and never won a world championship.

Winning a Gold Medal doesn't automatically mean he had a great amateur career.

Take away that gold medal and his amateur career is pretty poor. Then he had an abysmal pro career on top of it. Not to mention he had no significant wins as an amateur.

Golovkin can at least boast wins over: Dirrell, Geale, Lee, Korobov, Bute. 3 of which became future world champions in the pros. Korobov went onto become an amateur world champion as well.

Nice try though.

[Eff Pandas]

Why the word cheated?

Cuz Lou DiBella basically said there was no way Sergio Martinez would fight GGG back in the day. Cuz all the big names who were close to fighting GGG back when GGG was younger fell through for this reason or that reason that seemed beyond his control.

Everything that could go wrong with GGG's stepping into the mainstream boxing arena sooner seemed to go wrong. GGG coulda been on the level with the mainstream fans like he is now so much sooner in his trajectory in this sport & thats one of the things thats a disappointment to me about boxing.

You gotta be a businessman & a boxer in this sport when in most other sports if you are merely a high level athlete you & the fans get to find out how good you are at a much quicker pace or at all cuz many a boxer in this sport has been f#cked over or had their success minimized early on cuz of who they knew or who they didn't know.

Boxing should be about what happens in the ring not what happens out of it is all I'm saying & boxing will be a better sport when thats the reality like its a reality in most other major sports.

[S7V7N]

All time great is subjective & kinda bs so who cares. GGG was among the best of his day & looking at his career closer it seems he was cheated of the ability to reach his full potential by the best guys in his division not wanting to fight him at all or sooner than they did + his early promotional choices. But all you can be is the best of your time. Everything else is my dad can beat up your dad child-like bs.

And randomly as a fan of boxing I sorta hate how boxing works. The top guys in any division should be in a pool of fighters by themselves & there isn't any business or politics that can get in the way from the best reaching their max potential by fighting each other. Boxing at the tip top should be as competitive as staying in a starting position in the NFL. There are only so many slots & your position is always up for grabs if you get caught slipping or father time comes for your ass. I think if at some future date boxing does take on a more logical structure for fans, boxers & entertainment people will look back on these times as awful times for the sport overall.

Good post, appreciate the levity.

Even if beats Canelo, not an ATG but I think it's borderline. He'll need a couple more quality wins, preferably brutal ones that pushes him over the hump. GGG will have surpassed Hopkins resume at 160 if he does so imo. A lot depends on what the other MW's do during the rest of their career. People are only looking at current events & not forecasting how things could play out. Sure, it may turn out even worse for him, but the question is "could" it be benificial?

If he unifies the division? Jacobs & Canelo both go on to do more things in the division? This will certainly raise his stock. What if he goes on to fight & beat Saunders who's only a year older than Canelo & is a tough match-up for anyone in the division. It doesn't just depend what GGG does, but what his best wins do. We could all be looking back in 10 years with a more appreciative view of what the man accomplished with only a couple more fights. Big "if's" & he needs help even if he fulfills his end of the bargain.

I still think the odds are stacked against him, simply for how his career has played out early on, he didn't get the same chances as others were granted although I do think his team shot him in the foot a bit by not conceding weight on either Cotto/Canelo a couple years ago. There's nothing saying that either would have stood behind their words, but he could have done more imo to make those fights & quicken his rise to stardom.

Here's to hoping he can keep defying father time, he's one of the good guys in the sport that deserves the recognition.