Comparison Between Gennady Golovkin and Bernard Hopkins Title Reigns

[-PBP-]

This isn't intended to become a flaming fan boy war or criticize any fighter. I just think it's an interesting discussion and a topic that comes up a lot.

Here is the comparison:

Source:
Hopkins - Based on Ring Ratings the year before the fight took place
Golovkin - Ring Ratings until 2012, TBRB thereafter

Hopkins 20 title defenses

Howard Eastman (#1)
Oscar De La Hoya (UR)
Robert Allen (#2)
William Joppy (#2)
Morrade Hakkar (UR)
Carl Daniels (#8)
Felix Trinidad (#1)
Keith Holmes (#3)
Antwun Echols (#5)
Syd Vanderpool (UR)
Antwun Echols (#6)
Robert Allen (UR)
Robert Allen (#7)
Simon Brown (UR)
Andrew Council (UR)
Glen Johnson (UR)
John David Jackson (#9)
William Bo James (UR)
Joe Lipsey (#7)
Steve Frank (UR)

Gennady Golovkin 17 Title Defenses

Canelo Alvarez (Draw)
Daniel Jacobs (#2)
Kell Brook (UR)
Dominic Wade (#10)
David Lemieux (#4)
Willie Monroe Jr (UR)
Martin Murray (#4)
Marco Antonio Rubio (#9)
Daniel Geale (#5)
Osumanu Adama (UR)
Curtis Stevens (UR)
Matthew Macklin (#6)
Nobuhiro Ishida (UR)
Gabriel Rosado (UR)
Grzegorz Proksa (#4)
Makoto Fuchigami (UR)
Lajuan Simon (UR)
Kassim Ouma (UR)
Nilson Julio Tapia (UR)



As you can see, Hopkins was in a similar situation and had trouble landing the top names at 160. He had some solid fighters in there such as John David Jackson, Antwun Echols and Robert Allen who were strong top 10 contenders. He also had a win over an undefeated Glen Johnson which looks better in hindsight. He didn't get his hands on the top guys until Don King's unification tournament which matched him up with Keith Holmes and Felix Trinidad where he finally laid his claim as the lineal champion of the division. After the tournament, he fought Joppy, Allen, Oscar and Eastman, 3 of which were top 2 at the time he fought them.

Golovkin has also struggled early on with a resume consisting of a lot of unranked fighters. His best wins are Murray, Geale, Proska and Lemieux but has not been able to land the top guys in the division (Sturm, Martinez, Cotto, Canelo, Jacobs, Quillin, etc.) At this stage in Hopkins career, he was finally able to unify the division.

How do you think these two middleweight reigns compare?

[IllegalDeath]

Sweetheart, the basic comparison you need to make between them is of how many people have ducked GGG.

Felix Sturm,
Martinez
Cotto
Canelo
Saunders
Jacobs
and the list goes on.

Ducking outright means you are actually forfeiting which automatically means the other guy is superior and this is nothing but a fact so a GGG resume should have all these hidden names as well.

Now if we are to compare it with Hopkins he never had so many people ducking him.

It is not GGG's fault if people are straight forward ducking him or asking a fortune to fight him.

[-PBP-]

Sweetheart, the basic comparison you need to make between them is of how many people have ducked GGG.

Felix Sturm,
Martinez
Cotto
Canelo
Saunders
Jacobs
and the list goes on.

Ducking outright means you are actually forfeiting which automatically means the other guy is superior and this is nothing but a fact so a GGG resume should have all these hidden names as well.

Now if we are to compare it with Hopkins he never had so many people ducking him.

It is not GGG's fault if people are straight forward ducking him or asking a fortune to fight him.

Somebody wasn't following boxing in the 90s. King wouldn't let Hopkins touch many top MWs either. That's why I said it's a similar situation.

[robertzimmerman]

This isn't intended to become a flaming fan boy war or criticize any fighter. I just think it's an interesting discussion and a topic that comes up a lot.

Here is the comparison:

Source:
Hopkins - Based on Ring Ratings the year before the fight took place
Golovkin - Ring Ratings until 2012, TBRB thereafter

Hopkins 20 title defenses

Howard Eastman (#1)
Oscar De La Hoya (UR)
Robert Allen (#2)
William Joppy (#2)
Morrade Hakkar (UR)
Carl Daniels (#8)
Felix Trinidad (#1)
Keith Holmes (#3)
Antwun Echols (#5)
Syd Vanderpool (UR)
Antwun Echols (#6)
Robert Allen (UR)
Robert Allen (#7)
Simon Brown (UR)
Andrew Council (UR)
Glen Johnson (UR)
John David Jackson (#9)
William Bo James (UR)
Joe Lipsey (#7)
Steve Frank (UR)

Gennady Golovkin 15 Title Defenses

David Lemieux (#4)
Willie Monroe Jr (UR)
Martin Murray (#4)
Marco Antonio Rubio (#9)
Daniel Geale (#5)
Osumanu Adama (UR)
Curtis Stevens (UR)
Matthew Macklin (#6)
Nobuhiro Ishida (UR)
Gabriel Rosado (UR)
Grzegorz Proksa (#4)
Makoto Fuchigami (UR)
Lajuan Simon (UR)
Kassim Ouma (UR)
Nilson Julio Tapia (UR)



As you can see, Hopkins was in a similar situation and had trouble landing the top names at 160. He had some solid fighters in there such as John David Jackson, Antwun Echols and Robert Allen who were strong top 10 contenders. He also had a win over an undefeated Glen Johnson which looks better in hindsight. He didn't get his hands on the top guys until Don King's unification tournament which matched him up with Keith Holmes and Felix Trinidad where he finally laid his claim as the lineal champion of the division. After the tournament, he fought Joppy, Allen, Oscar and Eastman, 3 of which were top 2 at the time he fought them.

Golovkin has also struggled early on with a resume consisting of a lot of unranked fighters. His best wins are Murray, Geale, Proska and Lemieux but has not been able to land the top guys in the division (Sturm, Martinez, Cotto, Canelo, Jacobs, Quillin, etc.) At this stage in Hopkins career, he was finally able to unify the division.

How do you think these two middleweight reigns compare?

Good thread.

There are similarities.

Hopefully, GG will be able to fight Canelo, Jacobs, Saunders and Eubank. They would all be good fights for him.

The main difference with Bernard, is that he made incredible sacrifices both mentally and physically to fight for all those years at MW. He could have fought against better competition at SMW-LHW much sooner than he did. He turned down a CW against Roy in 2002, and in 2008, he admitted that he could have moved up to LHW 6 years earlier had he have wanted to. So he had options that aren't really open to GG. There's nothing much happening at SMW at the minute, and I think LHW is a step too far him.

[ShoulderRoll]

I don't think Hopkins regin was all that impressive, the names on his resume weren't anything to write home about. The most positive thing I can say is that he did dominate for a long time even if it was in a weak era.

Golovkin could be headed for that same type of designation unless he fights an elite opponent or two soon. Not that I see any in the current middleweight division.

[Vasyl’s dad]

You can even throw Hagler into the mix as well. He didn't get a shot until his 49th fight. Its funny how people act like GGG is any different from the two greats before him. "He needs to fight someone known". Yea, cool. The "known" guys, are steering clear.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

This isn't intended to become a flaming fan boy war or criticize any fighter. I just think it's an interesting discussion and a topic that comes up a lot.

Here is the comparison:

Source:
Hopkins - Based on Ring Ratings the year before the fight took place
Golovkin - Ring Ratings until 2012, TBRB thereafter

Hopkins 20 title defenses

Howard Eastman (#1)
Oscar De La Hoya (UR)
Robert Allen (#2)
William Joppy (#2)
Morrade Hakkar (UR)
Carl Daniels (#8)
Felix Trinidad (#1)
Keith Holmes (#3)
Antwun Echols (#5)
Syd Vanderpool (UR)
Antwun Echols (#6)
Robert Allen (UR)
Robert Allen (#7)
Simon Brown (UR)
Andrew Council (UR)
Glen Johnson (UR)
John David Jackson (#9)
William Bo James (UR)
Joe Lipsey (#7)
Steve Frank (UR)

Gennady Golovkin 15 Title Defenses

David Lemieux (#4)
Willie Monroe Jr (UR)
Martin Murray (#4)
Marco Antonio Rubio (#9)
Daniel Geale (#5)
Osumanu Adama (UR)
Curtis Stevens (UR)
Matthew Macklin (#6)
Nobuhiro Ishida (UR)
Gabriel Rosado (UR)
Grzegorz Proksa (#4)
Makoto Fuchigami (UR)
Lajuan Simon (UR)
Kassim Ouma (UR)
Nilson Julio Tapia (UR)



As you can see, Hopkins was in a similar situation and had trouble landing the top names at 160. He had some solid fighters in there such as John David Jackson, Antwun Echols and Robert Allen who were strong top 10 contenders. He also had a win over an undefeated Glen Johnson which looks better in hindsight. He didn't get his hands on the top guys until Don King's unification tournament which matched him up with Keith Holmes and Felix Trinidad where he finally laid his claim as the lineal champion of the division. After the tournament, he fought Joppy, Allen, Oscar and Eastman, 3 of which were top 2 at the time he fought them.

Golovkin has also struggled early on with a resume consisting of a lot of unranked fighters. His best wins are Murray, Geale, Proska and Lemieux but has not been able to land the top guys in the division (Sturm, Martinez, Cotto, Canelo, Jacobs, Quillin, etc.) At this stage in Hopkins career, he was finally able to unify the division.

How do you think these two middleweight reigns compare?

Nice post.

I just want to ask where those rankings come from? Are they RING ratings which is what I'm guessing or from the organizations? I am sure GGG had to face a number one contender in his long reign with the WBA.

[-PBP-]

Nice post.

I just want to ask where those rankings come from? Are they RING ratings which is what I'm guessing or from the organizations? I am sure GGG had to face a number one contender in his long reign with the WBA.

Yeah it's ring ratings. All of Hopkins opponents had to be ranked by the IBF I'm sure and same for GGG.

[Foreign Soil]

Yeah. Hopkins' MW reign wasn't impressive from a competition standpoint, but any long reigning champ deserves a default level of praise. Fighting mediocre competition over the long haul usually leads to the champion under performing and losing, which is why there aren't many long reigning champs. It's not as easy as they make it look.

What Hopkins did after the MW reign put him into another category. GGG could move up and wipe the floor with SMW as the weight class is also mightily mediocre. If he does that then he also moves into another category. GGG isn't going to be fighting into his 50s though, Lol. His tenacious style isn't suited for it.

[xhiddenx87]

This isn't intended to become a flaming fan boy war or criticize any fighter. I just think it's an interesting discussion and a topic that comes up a lot.

Here is the comparison:

Source:
Hopkins - Based on Ring Ratings the year before the fight took place
Golovkin - Ring Ratings until 2012, TBRB thereafter

Hopkins 20 title defenses

Howard Eastman (#1)
Oscar De La Hoya (UR)
Robert Allen (#2)
William Joppy (#2)
Morrade Hakkar (UR)
Carl Daniels (#8)
Felix Trinidad (#1)
Keith Holmes (#3)
Antwun Echols (#5)
Syd Vanderpool (UR)
Antwun Echols (#6)
Robert Allen (UR)
Robert Allen (#7)
Simon Brown (UR)
Andrew Council (UR)
Glen Johnson (UR)
John David Jackson (#9)
William Bo James (UR)
Joe Lipsey (#7)
Steve Frank (UR)

Gennady Golovkin 15 Title Defenses

David Lemieux (#4)
Willie Monroe Jr (UR)
Martin Murray (#4)
Marco Antonio Rubio (#9)
Daniel Geale (#5)
Osumanu Adama (UR)
Curtis Stevens (UR)
Matthew Macklin (#6)
Nobuhiro Ishida (UR)
Gabriel Rosado (UR)
Grzegorz Proksa (#4)
Makoto Fuchigami (UR)
Lajuan Simon (UR)
Kassim Ouma (UR)
Nilson Julio Tapia (UR)



As you can see, Hopkins was in a similar situation and had trouble landing the top names at 160. He had some solid fighters in there such as John David Jackson, Antwun Echols and Robert Allen who were strong top 10 contenders. He also had a win over an undefeated Glen Johnson which looks better in hindsight. He didn't get his hands on the top guys until Don King's unification tournament which matched him up with Keith Holmes and Felix Trinidad where he finally laid his claim as the lineal champion of the division. After the tournament, he fought Joppy, Allen, Oscar and Eastman, 3 of which were top 2 at the time he fought them.

Golovkin has also struggled early on with a resume consisting of a lot of unranked fighters. His best wins are Murray, Geale, Proska and Lemieux but has not been able to land the top guys in the division (Sturm, Martinez, Cotto, Canelo, Jacobs, Quillin, etc.) At this stage in Hopkins career, he was finally able to unify the division.

How do you think these two middleweight reigns compare?

Yep, pretty much the same, and Team GGG already said that they are looking to tie or break the record of hopkins of title defenses, so it all fits together.

I hope GGG can land Canelo, Jacobs/Lara and Saunders...then you can pretty much say that both resumes are equal.