Gennady Golovkin

Courtesy of Boxrec.com

One of the worlds hottest rising boxing stars right now is Kazakhstan's Middleweight Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin (35-0, 33) who is better known to boxing fans as "GGG". He's a fighter who in the last year or so has broken through from being a well respect former amateur to being an all conquering and destructive force in the 160 division.

Born in Karaganda, Kazakhstan in 1982 Golovkin's talent was obvious from an early age and as just a teenage he was winning amateur tournaments.

The first international amateur tournament that Golovkin appears to have won was the Brandenberg Cup in Germany in 2000. Just a month later he over-shadowed that achievement by claiming the World Junior Championships in dominating fashion.

Golovkin's amateur career went from strength to strength as he ran up a collection of titles and victories over men who later become known in their own right.

The crowning achievement of Golovkin's time in the unpaid ranks however came in 2003 when he defeated Matt Korobov, Lucien Bute, Andy Lee, Yordanis Despaigne and Oleg Mashkin inside a week to claim the World Amateur Championship.

The Kazakhstani fighter almost added an Olympic Gold the following year when he came runner up in Athens to the experienced Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov. Although Golovkin "only" took a Silver here he did score a notable victory over Andre Dirrell who became yet another notable name on a long list of notable names that Golovkin defeated in the unpaid ranks, a list that also includes Daniel Geale.

The total number of fights Golovkin had as an amateur is actually unknown. Although it's widely reported as 350 fights, winning 345 and losing 5 though we've seen some claims that he actually suffered 8 losses so we think his total may be closer to 360 than 350. What is known however, is that he was skilled and very spiteful with his punches which caused numerous stoppages despite the head gear that amateurs wear.

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After ending his amateur career in 2005 Golovkin would sign a professional deal with the then massive Universum Box-Promotion (UBP) and made his professional debut in May 2006.

Under UBP Golovkin's career got off an a fast start with 6 bouts in the space of around 7 months (he actually fought in every month between May and December bar June). All of those early fights saw Golovkin's power impressing as he stopped those opponents in a combined 17 rounds.

In 2007 Golovkin scored another 3 victories as Universum kept him busy. It was also in 2007 that Golovkin realised not everyone could be taken out early doors as he was taken 8 rounds by Mehdi Bouadla. On paper that looked like a surprise though Bouadla himself would later work himself up to a Super Middleweight title bout.

By the end of 2008 Golovkin's record stood at an excellent 14-0 (11) and whilst his best win was over Ian Gardner it was obvious that he had the talent to reach the top as long he was let off the proverbial leash. Unfortunately under Universum that didn't seem likely to happen any time soon and Golovkin was given 4 more relatively easy bouts in 2009.

In 2010 Universum started to run in to financial issues after having been dropped by German television channel ZDF. This caused a number of issues for Golovkin who was effectively unable to fight in Germany.

Rather than just sitting and waiting to see what happened with Universum Golovkin instead travelled to Panama and in his first fight of 2010 he took out Colombian Milton Nunez in 58 seconds for the WBA "interim" Middleweight title. Soon his title would be upgraded to the "regular" version and he would defend it in his native Kazakhstan stopping the over-matched Nilson Julio Tapia in 3 rounds.

In just his second defense Golovkin returned to Panama and took on former Light Middleweight world champion Kassim Ouma. Although Ouma was a massive under-dog he gave Golovkin a genuinely hard time in a bout that made Golovkin look somewhat average. Although Golovkin eventually stopped Ouma in round 10 it was a bout that left many questioning his defence and overall skills, especially considering Ouma was a smaller man who was seen as well beyond his best.

Golovkin's Universum issues were eventually sorted out in 2011 soon after the Ouma fight and he his next fight saw him fighting under the K2 banner of the Klitschko's and returning to Germany for the first as the champion and the first time in over 2 years.

Sadly for Golovkin's German fans his return to the country lasted just 137 seconds as he took out Lujuan Simon with a perfect left hook that left his challenger flat on his back. Interestingly he has yet to return to Germany following this bout.

In his 4th title defense Golvokin traveled to the Ukraine and took out Japanese challenger Makoto Fuchigami (the then OPBF Middleweight champion) in 3 rounds in what was widely considered little more than a stay busy fight.

Following the victory over Fuchigami, Golovkin was signed to face Russian Dmitry Pirog, then then WBO Middleweight world champion, in what was to be Golovkin's first bout in the US. Sadly Pirog was forced to pull out of the bout and instead Golovkin made his US debut against British based Pole Grzegorz Proksa. What was originally meant to be a unification bout for Golovkin ended up "just" being an eye catching show case as he destroyed Proksa in 5 very one-sided rounds.

Having impressed both HBO and the American fans with his victory over Proksa it wasn't long before Golovkin returned to the US where he stopped Gabriel Rosado in a fun to watch, though some what one sided bout. It was in the post fighter interview after this bout that Golovkin really endeared himself to the fans not as a fighter but as a person as he called Rosado a "Goodboy", a nickname that seems to have now been attached to Golvokin himself.

Rather than waiting for HBO to offer him another fight Golovkin returned to the ring just 2 months after the Rosado bout and stopped Japanese fighter Nobuhiro Ishida in scary fashion in Monaco. Ishida was genuinely left out cold with his head hanging worryingly between the ropes as Golovkin added yet another highlight real KO to his record.

Following the victory over Ishida Golovkin returned to the US and stopped Matthew Macklin of Britain with a vicious body shot in round 3. Following the bout many in the boxing world have called for Golovkin to face Miguel Cotto in a bout to decide the true Middleweight champion. Although this is a bout the boxing world seems to most want, there are other options for Golovkin which  appear to include Carl Froch (the Super Middleweight champion), Andre Ward (another Super Middleweight champion) or Julio Cesar Chavez.

Golovkin kept the pressure on other champions as he defended his title once more in 2013, stopping American Curtis Stevens at the end of round 8. Stevens, who had talk a good game, seemed to go a bit like Macklin and was put in to his shell early before Golovkin broke him down mentally and physically forcing Stevens's corner to call a halt to proceedings.

To kick off 2014 Golovkin stopped the teak tough Osumanu Adama in 7 rounds. Although this wasn't Golovkin at his most impressive it was still dominant from the first bell to the last. As was Golovkin's second win of 2014, a 3rd round victory over Daniel Geale, who was on paper the toughest test for Golovkin in 30 bouts. The Kazakh managed to fit in a third defense of the year as he stopped Mexican Marco Antonio Rubio in 2 rounds.

Golovkin's reign of terror continued in 2015 as he beat down and broke up the tough Brit Martin Murray who managed to survive into the 11th round. Murray did well to survive but was down several times before Luis Pabon eventually saved a tired and battered Murray who was simply too brave for his own good. What this bout proved was that Golovkin had the stamina to go 12 rounds if he needed to, though Murray couldn't quite survive the distance under the force of Golovkin's pressure. Following the win over Murray Golovkin stopped Willie Monroe Jr as he continued to leave contenders in his wake. The performance against Monroe wasn't flawless but there never any real danger of Golovkin coming up short against Monroe who was essentially beaten into submission. He then added the IBF title to his collection as he destroyed David Lemieuix for the title in October to become the WBA/WBC/IBF champion, having claimed the WBC title when Saul Alvarez vacated the title to avoid him.

To begin 2016 Golovkin took on IBF mandatory challenger Dominic Wade, who was stopped in 2 rounds by the the Kazakh in an absolutely awful mismatch.

Golovkin will return to the ring in September when he takes on unbeaten Brit Kell Brook in what will be Golovkin's UK debut. On paper the bout looks intriguing, but the reality is that Brook is moving up 2 weight classes to face Golovkin in what is expected to be a clear mismatch.

With explosive power, a brilliant judge of distance, excellent shot selection, wonderful timing, and an amazing ability to cut the ring off with his very under-rated footwork Golovkin is a serious threat to anyone who gets in the ring with him. Some will say that he's yet to face an elite fighter, other will see he is defensively weak and slow. Though in all honesty he can only face fighters who are willing to get in the ring with him, he has never looked hurt in the professional ranks and his timing makes up for any questions about his hand speed.

Without a doubt there are still question marks about Golovkin though he seems eager to answer every one of them.

The video below, thanks HBOsports shows some highlights of Golovkin for those few who have yet to see one of the most destructive fighters currently in the sport.