It's fair to say that 2017 has been a brilliant year for boxing, with so many great fights having already taken place. Sadly it's also been marred by a pretty consistent stream of poor decisions. One of the worst came back in May in Japan when Ryota Murata (12-1, 9) lost his unbeaten record to Frenchman Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam (36-2, 21), who claimed the WBA Middleweight title with a decision that was widely viewed as a massive gift. In fact so bad was the decision that two of the judges were suspended by the WBA and an immediate rematch was ordered. That rematch will take place this coming weekend and will see N'Dam seeking to make his first defense of a “tainted” reign whilst Murata will look to avenge his loss. Going into the first bout it was N'Dam who was widely favoured. He had proven himself at a high level, and despite two losses had certainly shown himself to be a world class operator, with incredible toughness and resiliency. He went in to the bout as a fighter known for being slick, a brilliant mover and although everyone questions his chin he always manages to show amazing re-recuperative powers, coming through some staggering knockdowns. Aged 33 N'Dam is coming to the end of his physical prime, and there will likely be signs of both natural slowdown and and the wear and tear of tough bouts, but he still appears to be a smart and confident fighter. He looked sharp and full of bravado at the pre-fight public work out and certainly seems to be a fighter who has worked on a game plan to defeat Murata, working hard on neutralising the powerful right hand of the Japanese puncher. Whilst N'Dam is proven, and is the champion, there are few who feel he won the first bout with Murata. He was too inactive, too open to the right hand and he lacked the physicality to get Murata's respect. He showed touches of great ability, but a lack of fire and hunger and he really was very lucky to get bailed out by the judges. As for Murata the Japanese former amateur stand out, who won an Olympic Gold and a world Amateur Silver, he went into the first fight as a fighter who wasn't given much respect. He had looked lacklustre on his US debut, against Gunnar Jackson, and had left fans thinking that maybe he wasn't as good as his amateur pedigree suggested. There was real touches of class, but too many questions to favour him against N'Dam in May. In their first bout however it was Murata who shone, using his power,footwork and physicality to force N'Dam on to the back foot, and shake the Frenchman a number of times. At the age of 31 Murata is still in his prime, and despite having had a long amateur carer he is still a very fresh fighter, with just 77 rounds of professional experience. He's tough, heavy handed and and highly skilled, whilst adding to his experience with every fight. It was possibly a lack of experience that worked against him when he faced N'Dam the first time, and whilst he was in charge he just failed to put his foot on the gas in the way he should have. Although it's clear that N'Dam has worked on ways to counter Murata's dangerous right hand it's hard to see anything but a dominant win for the Japanese fighter, who will be looking to close the show this time and keep the result out of the hands of the judges. The Japanese fighter will look to force his will and this time we suspect he will look to crush the Frenchman. Whilst N'Dam is tough we do see Murata actually stopping him here, and really making a statement to become Japan's second ever Middleweight world champion.
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The Middleweight division has always been one of the most significant in the sport, and historically has one been perhaps the second or third most important weight class in boxing, with only the Heavyweight clearly defining it's self as more significant. Over time we have seen icons make their name at the weight, such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Carlos Monzon, Harry Greb, Roy Jones Jr and Bernard Hopkins. This weekend we get the chance to see the division again come to the fore as we get the division's biggest fight in years. The bout in question will see WBC, WBA, IBF and IBO champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33) take on linear champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (49-1-1, 24). The bout is essentially to crown a single king at 160lbs, it's also to decide who is the better man, and which of the two really is a pound-for-pound top fighter. It pits the biggest name in Mexican boxing against the biggest in Kazakhstan, and in fact it pits two of the sport's genuine global stars against each other, in a bout that has split fans around the world. The bigger name going in to the bout is Canelo. The 27 year old Mexican was long ear marked as a potential star and made his debut at the prodigious age of 15 years old. His early career was a bit slow burner but in 2010 he made his US debut, and since then he has become a focal point of boxing not only in Mexico but also in the US. Out of the ring Canelo is a big deal, a huge one in Mexico, and in the ring he has the ability to back it up. He's a compact boxer-puncher who has heavy hands, nice combinations and has been in with a real who's who of the sport. He holds wins over the likes of Miguel Vazquez, Carlos Manuel Baldomir, Kermit Cintron, Shane Mosley, Austin Trout, James Kirkland, Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and his only loss is to Floyd Mayweather Jr, no shame there. Although Canelo is one of the best boxer-punchers in the sport he is a flawed fighter, and one open to a lot of criticism. On paper his record looks amazing, but the reality is that he actually lacks many quality wins over prime opponents, with his stand win being a controversial one over Lara. Most of his wins, such as ones over Baldomir, Mosley, Kirkland and Cotto coming against men who were beyond their best. He can be made to look slow, his work rate isn't that high and although he has a reputation as being heavy handed, he's not a monstrous puncher, more a thudding one with every shot hurting. At 5'9” and with a 70.5” reach he is also a rather small Middleweight and although he's a thick fighter he's someone who will regularly be giving away size at Middleweight. When it comes to Golovkin we have a fighter who splits a number of fans. His supporting will tell you about his long pursuit to get a big fight, and his inability to lure other top fighters in the ring during his pomp. At 35 years old he is probably past his best, hence why some feel Canelo took the fight, but he is coming in to this on the back of a huge win over Danny Jacobs. Having mentioned Jacobs it's worth noting the American was the latest in a long line of notable wins for Golovkin, who has beaten championship level fighters like Kassim Ouma, Daniel Geale, Marco Antonio Rubio, Matthew Macklin, Kell Brook, David Lemiuex, and the aforementioned Jacobs. Blessed with naturally frightening power Golovkin has had a long amateur background, he uses those skills to control the ring really well, he measures distance and angles brilliantly and although he's an aggressive fighter he's one who uses a lot of intelligent pressure. He backs that pressure up with a really solid chin, that helps make up for some of his defensive flaws. For all his talent he does have chinks in his armour, notably his leaky defense, a lack of head movement, and given his age there may well be some natural slow down, along with wear and tear. Offensively he is brilliant but he can be reckless, and he often shows little respect to opponents. In the ring it will be Golovkin's pressure against against the counter punching skills of Canelo. Canelo will look to use Golovkin's pressure against him, and make him pay for his defenses lapses. As for Golovkin he'll be looking to be more intelligent than usual, use his reach and not sit in the pocket too long. He'll be looking to use his jab and his foot work, like we saw against David Lemieux, and limit the openings for the Mexican. We suspect that a close bout will go to Canelo, we think everyone would agree with that, so we can't imagine Golovkin sitting back with his jab too much. But we think that will be his key early on, using the jab to try and pick holes in Alvarez, probably to the body. If he can do that, and bring the hands down he will get the chances late on to take it out of the judges hands. If Canelo can hold his own early on, and not take too much punishment early on, there's a fantastic chance he'll go on to hear the final bell and take the decision. With Canelo's combinations he will impress the judges, his eye catching shots are always a joy to watch, but he'll understandably look to limit them, for fear of being forced to eat too many shots from Golovkin. We think Golovkin will chip apart at Canelo and force a late stoppage, but we wouldn't be massively surprised at a win for the Mexican. Japanese world champions aren't rare in boxing, in fact the country has been one of the most successful countries in the history of the sport, however the country has struggled in the weights above 130lbs with only a handful of champions at Lightweight or higher. The highest weight a Japanese fighter has ever won a world title at is Middleweight, with Shinji Takehara being the only man to have done that. This coming Saturday we see 2012 Olympic gold medal winner Ryota Murata (12-0, 9) attempt to become the second Japanese fighter to claim a Middleweight crown, and the first Japanese fighter to claim both an Olympic gold and a professional world title, as he takes on Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam (35-2, 21) for the WBA Middleweight title. Of the two men it's N'dam who is the more well known, and with good reason given he's had a very long and pretty successful professional career. That career began in 2004 and has seen the Frence based Cameroonian win the WBA International Middleweight title as well as the WBO and WBA interim belts, winning the WBA interim crown twice. Not only has he won titles but he has beaten a strong of notable foes, such as Avtandil Khurtsidze, Giovanni Lorenzo, Max Bursak, Fulgencio Zuniga, Curtis Stevens and Alfonso Blanco. Whilst N'dam has beaten some top foes he's unfortunately best known for his two losses, to Peter Quillin and David Lemieux, who both dropped him numerous times on route to decision wins. N'Dam prove in both of those bouts that he was a talented boxer-mover, with love skills a very dodgy chin but an amazing heart. In total N'Dam has been down more 10 times during his career, but he has has never been stopped. On the other other hand he as scored 21 stoppages, including the sickening KO of Blanco last December. With 37 professional bouts to his name and 249 rounds under his belt N'Dam is a genuine veteran of the professional game. He's also an accomplished amateur reaching the 2004 Olympic quarter finals and reaching the the Rio games in 2016. He was also a competitor at the World Junior Championships in 2002 and an African Junior champion. It may seem obvious, but he certainly has a lot of miles on the clock and it's fair to ask how many more he can add before his body just gives up with it's fighting spirit, and he finally suffers a stoppage loss. Murata really came to the attention of international boxing fans when he was still an amateur, having won Silver at the 2011 World Amateur Championships and a Gold at the 2012 Olympics in London. Following those success Murata turned professional with huge expectations on his shoulders and he quickly made an impact on the professional scene by stopping the then Oriental champion Akio Shibata on debut. Since then the hope in Japan was that Murata was going to be fast tracked to a title, with the help of American promotional giant Top Rank. Unfortunately Murata wasn't moved as quickly as hoped but he has picked up plenty of experience whilst fighting in Japan, Macau, China, Hong Kong and the US. Despite only having 12 bouts he already has 65 rounds and has gone 10 rounds 3 times already. Despite being a former amateur standout Murata isn't a “skill” fighter. In the amateurs his success came from an amazing engine, an impressive toughness and incredible physical strength. He was an out and out pressure fighter as an amateur and was one of the most exciting fighters in the unpaid ranks. Since turning professional he has flirted with being a boxer but has seemingly realised he's a better puncher than a boxer. It seems that whilst he was a good amateur he was unsure of sort of a professional fighter he was until recently, and now he's stopped his last 5 foes. Blessed with pure physical strength and toughness it does sometimes seem like it's going to take a special fighter to hurt Murata, He looks like he can be out boxed, with his relatively slow feet and less than quick hands, but he seems to always find a way to be in the right place and and can really land dynamite with his right hand. Notably his hands are quicker than they look, and when he wants to let combinations go he can, as Douglas Ataide found out in one of the most impressive stoppages of Murata's career so far. It's the speed and movement that looks the key to beating him, but keeping on the move for 12 rounds against his pressure is going to be very, very difficult. Given that N'Dam has been down numerous times it's hard to imagine him staying upright here for 12 rounds. Murata simply hits too hard not to take down N'Dam. There is however no proof that Murata will be able to stop N'Dam and the French fighter will get on his toes, box, move and out land Murata in the vast number of rounds. The real key here will be how many knockdowns Murata can get, and just how much damage he can do to N'Dam. If he can drop N'Dam 5 or 6 times, or cause facial swelling and following up on that, Murata will likely end the weekend as the WBA Middleweight champion. If N'dam can avoid the power of Murata and can fiddle his way to a decision however the title likely ends up back in France. Our prediction is that Murata's power will be too much for N'Dam and the Japanese fighter will drop the French enough times to take home the win, either scoring a close but clear decision or a very late stoppage of the French. N'Dam certainly has a chance, but we're going with Japanese star to create his own little slice of history here. It's been a good year for boxing fans so far, with a lot of excitement, a host of upsets, some great match ups still being announced and fight fans generally seeming a lot more up beat about the sport than they were this time last year. That's not to say the sport's perfect but it's just that things seem much better than they have been in recent times, with the focus of numerous fighters being unification and legacy, rather than bank balance and avoidance. This coming Saturday we get a bout that is essentially all about legacy and proving who the best fighter in the Middleweight division really is. In one corner we have the WBC, IBF, IBO and WBA “Super” champion Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33) whilst in the other corner we have once beaten WBA “regular” champion Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29). Essentially we have the two best Middleweights facing off, two of the biggest punchers in the sport and two men who each have the belief of being the best. Of the two men it's fair to say that the unbeaten Golovkin is the more proven fighter. He was a stand out amateur before turning professional in 2006 and has held a WBA “world” title, of some status, since 2010. In fact since first winning the WBA “interim” title Golovkin has ripped through many of the top fighters in the division whilst going 17-0 (17) in title defenses. Whilst some of those defences were of the interim title, and some were against limited foes, he has take out the likes of Kassim Ouma, the then touted Grzegorz Proksa, the highly regarded Matthew Macklin, former champion Daniel Geale, top contenders like Marco Antonio Rubio, Martin Murray, the then IBF champion David Lemieux and the then unbeaten Welterweight champion Kell Brook. Blessed with naturally heavy hands and impressively solid chin Golovkin has added boxing skills and a high ring IQ to his natural gifts. Unlike many punchers he doesn't usually come out of the blocks looking for the KO but knows it will come with his boxing,and the fact that every shot he throws seems to be a damaging one. It's his learned traits, including his amazing balance and control of distance, which has made him one of the sports top fighters, and there is little a fighter can do to avoid the extreme pressure that the Kazakh brings to the ring. Although a brilliantly talented fighter, who can box or bang, Golovkin does have a few flaws. He's not the quickest fighter on the planet, with either his hands or feet, he can be made to look a bit stationary at times and his defense is certainly not the tightest. Whilst he has the chin to hold up to shots, and the timing to neutralise quicker man, there are flaws that are being shown for fighters to look into exploiting in the future. Exploiting them may not be the most difficult thing in the world to do, but doing so for 12 rounds looks to be one of the toughest tasks in the sport today. Although less proven than the Kazakh it's hard to not respect Jacobs, who has over-come cancer and scored notable wins against the likes of Ishe Smith, Sergio Mora and Peter Quillin. Like Golovkin it's fair to say that Jacob's is a powerful puncher, though it a much more “explosive puncher” than the heavy handed Kazakh. With Jacobs the punches are fast, the combinations are throw with intent and the American is certainly an impressive offensive fighter. Like Golovkin however his defensive issues are the major problem, and unlike Golovkin the American doesn't have a granite chin. He has been hurt a number of times during his career, suffering a 5th round TKO loss to Dmitry Pirog in 2010 and being dropped by Sergio Mora in 2015. The 30 year old American has been around the pro scene for close to a decade, and was a decorated amateur himself before turning professional. Once tipped as one of the brightest young talents in the sport Jacobs has failed to live up to the expectations many had of him in the ring, though he has also proven doctors wrong by having such a great career after beating cancer. Whilst Jacobs does have a chance, anyone with the power and speed he has has a chance, that chance is a slim one. His questionable punch resistance, his lack of defensive skills and the fact he leaves himself open is a curse here against a more rounded fighter than Golovkin. We think Jacobs will have his moments, every fighter seems to have some moments against Golovkin, but with the Kazakh taking this bout seriously those moments will be limited and Golovkin's jab will be the early controlling shot. As the bout wears on, and as Jacobs slows himself he'll begin to taste the meatier shots of Golovkin's before being stopped in the middle to late rounds. It's fair to say that this coming Saturday is a huge day for boxing fans, with so many massive fights. For many the most exciting fights are in the US, with Carlos Cuadras Vs Roman Gonzalez and the Yoshihiro Kamegai Vs Jesus Soto Karass bouts both expected to be brilliant fights. For others however the most significant bout takes place at Middleweight in the UK and sees Kazakh star Gennady Golovkin (35-0, 32) defending his WBC, IBF and IBO Middleweight titles against unbeaten Brit Kell Brook (36-0, 25), himself a world champion albeit the IBF champion at Welterweight. The bout, on Sky Box Office in the UK, is seen as the highest profile bout for Golovkin, who has long been avoided by top names at Middleweight, and is seen as a potential opportunity for Brook to become a real international star. Golovkin first made his name in the amateurs, where he ran up an impressive resume winning various international competitions and beating numerous fighters who would later leave their mark on the professional scene. As a professional his career was a relative slow burn for his first 18 bouts, all in Europe. He claimed the WBA Interim Middleweight title in 2010 and since then he has become one of boxing's break out stars racking up world title defenses for fun and unifying the WBA, WBC, IBF and IBO titles in a career that has seen him become a star in America. In the build up to a Golokin bout the typical thing to mention is his power. With a 91% stoppage rate the power is intimidating and it has seen him stop his last 22 opponents, including fighters like Daniel Geale, Marco Antonio Rubio, Martin Murray and David Lemieux. The power however is only part of the story with Golovkin's real strength actually being his skills. Those skills allow him to cut the ring down, get in to the range to land those powerful shots and break opponents down. He does have 1-punch KO power, as Nobuhiro Ishida and Lujan Simon found out, but the key to his power is that every single shot hurts, and eventually they break opponents down. Unlike many power punchers Golovkin doesn't depend primarily on his power but instead uses his power as one of many weapons along with his timing, foot work, intelligent pressure and shot selection, including his now well known under-cut or sledgehammer shot. There are holes in his game defensively, and one wonders how he'd cope with someone crowding him and smothering him, but those holes are very hard to exploit. For Brook the bout sees him making his Middleweight debut. He is well known for his career at Welterweight, where he has beaten the likes of Shawn Porter, Matthew Hatton, Vyacheslav Senchenko and Carson Jones, twice. Although highly skilled Brook's career has been an incredibly frustrating one with the last few years spent defending the IBF Welterweight title against very poor opponents, like Jo Jo Dan, Frankie Gavin and Kevin Bizier, who lasted a combined 12 rounds. Given the depth at Welterweight Brook had the chance to make himself an international star but has really wasted that chance with various problems. In the ring Brook is a fantastic boxer-puncher. He shut down Porter with a disruptive game plan, destroyed Gavin, Dan and Brook with his power and gritted out a decision over Jones in the first bout. Not only is he a great boxer-puncher but he's also a massive Welterweight, and is probably a natural Light Middleweight. That however leaves us wondering how he will be at Middleweight, and we have seen him hurt by shots at Welterweight, with Senchenko wobbling him and Jones almost stopping him late in their first bout. Tactically Brook has to be spot on to survive here. He has to neutralise not just the natural power and strength of Golovkin but also his pressure. That might mean that Brook has to, essentially, hit and run and run and run. Or it might mean that Brook, who has beefed up for the fight, has to get in and smother Golovkin, rather than let the Kazakh have full extension on his shots. We suspect Brook will be confident coming in to this one and will feel he has done every thing he can to prepare for the bout with a solid gameplan. That plan however will likely go out of the window when he feels the power of the Kazakh and in the middle rounds that power will be too much, eventually stopping the challenger who will have taken some serious punishment before wilting. The most notable of three world title bouts featuring Asian fighters this coming weekend sees unbeaten Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (34-0, 31) defending his WBA “super”, IBF, and WBC “interim” Middleweight titles against unbeaten IBF mandatory challenger Dominic Wade (18-0, 12). The bout will see Wade attempting to claim his first win at world level, whilst Golovkin will be hoping to score a 22nd straight stoppage, and 17th at “world” level. The Kazakh destroyed has, over the last few years, become a staple on HBO and on the mythical “pound for pound” lists. Whilst he has his detractors, who comment on his level of competition and the media hype, Golovkin is with out a doubt one of the most exciting and destructive forces in boxing with a long list of frightening KO's that are stacking up. Whilst the comments on his competition, so far at least, do have some merit he has taken out the B-tier contenders repeatedly in an active schedule. Those contenders have included the likes of Kassim Ouma, Nobuhiro Ishida, Grzegorz Proksa, Matthew Macklin, Curtis Stevens, Daniel Geale, Martin Murray and David Lemieux. All good, solid, respectable fighters. Listening to some talk about Golovkin you'd think he was just a crude banger, but the reality is that the Kazakh is a brilliant boxer-puncher who has shown so many facets to his game that he has actually looked like a man who can do it all. He's often shown that he's a pressure fighter, with brilliant offensive footwork and a wonderful control of distance, he's also shown, more recently, that he can be a back-foot boxer, using his jab and movement to control a world class fighter. He may not be the most slippery or the slickest but there is certainly more to him than just his power. Whilst Golovkin is certainly a known quantity the same cannot be said of Wade who is stepping up in class massively. To date Wade's best wins have been a controversial decision over Sam Soliman, a close decision over Nick Brinson and a stoppage over Marcus Upshaw. Notably he has been drown before, with Dashon Johnson dropping him just a few fights back and there is little in his history to really get too excited about. In the ring the 26 year old American challenger does have power, and did “drop” Soliman on route to his victory over the Australian, but his technique is sloppy, his movement is limited and it's very hard to see what he has in his arsenal to worry Golovkin. In fact it may be a case that Wade needs some absolute miracle to over-come the Kazakh. What we expect to see is for Golovkin to stalk, patiently, early in the bout before upping the heat in round 4 or 5 and seeing off Wade soon afterwards. Wade may surprise us by lasting a little bit longer, but we really can't see anyway in which he gives Golovkin a serious fight. Sadly. Hopefully however the near future does bring a big name to Golovkin who really does need that top level win before some fans will be won over by his ability and style. When punchers collide fan fights get excited knowing that they might end ups with either a modern classic or an early blow out. Even when the bout is a supposed mismatch the power of the under-dog prevents fans from ignoring the fight knowing that a clean shot could totally change the momentum of the fight and see the under-dog rip up the script. We get one such bout on October 16th when Kazakhstan's monstrously hard hitting Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30) faces off against popular Canadian David Lemieux (34-2, 31). Not only is the bout an exciting one on paper with two big hitters but it will also be for the position of “unified” Middleweight champion with Golovkin putting his WBA “super”, WBC “interim”, and IBO titles on the line against Lemieux's IBF belt. The winner will not only hold the highest level of titles from the WBA and IBF but will also be the mandatory challenger to the WBC title and will only need to hunt the WBO if they are hoping to become the undisputed champion. On paper Golovkin is the clear favourite. He's unbeaten and looks to be the dominant force in the division having swept aside the likes of Grzegorz Proksa, Gabriel Rosado, Nobuhiro Ishida, Matthew Macklin, Curtis Stevens, Daniel Geale, Marco Antonio Rubio and Martin Murray, all of whom have been stopped by Golovkin. The Kazakh has found himself racing through the proverbial pound-for-pound rankings almost as quickly as he's been going through his opponents and he's already regarded in the top 5 fighters on the planet by Boxrec.com, ESPN, Ring whilst the TBRB rank him inside the top 10. Whilst he has had 33 fights to his name he was a relative unknown to the US market 3 years ago, when he made his US debut, and has swiftly become a fan favourite Stateside. Blessed with devastating power it's easy to describe Golovkin as “just a puncher” but the truth is that he's so much more than “just a puncher”. He's technically a solid boxer, helped by an incredible amateur background with more than 340 wins, his foot work is criminally under-rated as he cuts off the ring with ease and he always look in position to throw a shot. He does have chinks in his armour, notably in his defense, but he appears to have a very solid chin which makes him very difficult to discourage. Worryingly he has also proven his stamina, and despite never going 12 rounds he never looked all that bothered with stamina during his recent 11th round TKO win against Martin Murray. What perhaps makes Golovkin stand out more than many other punchers is that he's willing to try new things. At times he has thrown some punches, including a punch that could be described as an “under-cut” or “reverse uppercut”, that certainly aren't in the text book for the sport. His variety of punches is incredible and he hit's monstrously hard with both hands causing real issues for fighters who have to worry about every shot in his arsenal. Whilst the 33 year old Golovkin is unbeaten the same cannot be said of his 26 year old Canadian rival. In Lemieux has suffered two notable losses to opponents that perhaps were over-looked in some ways. The first of those came against Marco Antonio Rubio, who saw off an early storm from the Canadian before an exhausted Lemieux was stopped by his then corner man Russ Anber. Lemieux would lose his return bout decision to Joachim Alcine, who was considered a safe option though took a decision win over Lemieux. Those set backs, both in 2011, saw Lemieux go from one of the hottest rising fighters to a man who was written off as being little more than a Canadian pretty boy. Since suffering those losses Lemieux has rebuilt, brilliantly, with 9 straight wins including 7 inside the distance. The first few of those wins were easy ones, designed to rebuild his confidence but over the last 18 months he has scored 3 solid wins, destroying Fernando Guerrero and Gabriel Rosado before taking a clear decision over Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam to claim the IBF title, and his biggest scalp. Early in his career Lemieux was known for blasting opponents out. He looked sharp, powerful and very destructive with his 23 of his first 24 wins, and his first 20, all coming inside the distance. There was however question marks about his stamina and chin and it was the stamina issue that cost in his first loss, his second loss was mostly down to confidence with the fighter feeling ill effects of his first loss. Since then however he has learned how to go rounds if necessary, he wastes a lot less energy and his footwork has improved markedly. He's still a man who relies on his power but he has polished his delivery of that power. Whilst Golovkin is a heavy handed boxer who can cut the distance distance with ease Lemieux is more of a natural fighter, a brawler a man who wants to jump into a fight and finish it with out necessarily show casing his boxing ability. There is however some good boxing in his arsenal, even if it's not show cased a lot. Interestingly both men not only posses title belts and power but in terms of stature both are almost identical, there is just 1” separating their heights. Saying that however Golovkin is a naturally small Middleweight whilst Lemieux seems to be a man who could, or rather will, end up fighting at Super Middleweight somewhere down the line. This is likely to mean that whilst both will look a similar height Lemieux will be the heavier man. That weight may be his key to winning with it perhaps allowing him to take a shot better and lean on Golovkin on the inside. Having watched both men we're expected to see both men trade heavy shots, the difference however will be the variation of Golovkin who we think will be able to create the distance that he wants to put full leverage on his shots. Whilst we think Golovkin will win, we do suspect this could be among his most difficult fight, along with the Kassim Ouma fight. Lemieux may not last as long as Ounma did but will ask serious questions of Golovkin's toughness and punch resistance. When fighters reach the world level they tend to become inactive with many world class fighters fighting just twice a year. It's frustrating to see top fighters being so inactive but thankfully we do have an occasional fighter who is willing to buck the trend, remain active and,more importantly, do it in style. One such fighter is Kazakh Middleweight destroyer Gennady Golovkin (32-0, 29) who has been one of the more active champions in recent years, and holds a nice collection of titles including the WBA “super”, and WBC “interim” Middleweight belts. On May 16th we see Golovkin return to the ring for his second bout of the year, his 4th bout in a the last 12 months and his 7th bout in less than 24 months. That type of activity is rarely seen by contenders never mind champions. One of the reason's Golovkin has been so active is because he's been so destructive. His last 3 bouts have lasted a combined 16 rounds with 11 of those coming against the tough Martin Murray in a very one sided bout that saw Murray surviving without posing too many problems. Golovkin's last 7 bouts have gone 34 rounds. He's wiping out opponents in a manner that allows him to be active and none of the bouts are really putting miles on the clock. What makes Golovkin so destructive isn't just his power, which is a great asset, but also his shot selection and his intense and very calculated pressure. He applies frightening pressure that forces opponents on to the retreat, he cuts the ring off marvelously, corners his foes then lands clean, hurtful shots. He finds gaps that other fighters don't, he lands shots that opponents don't see coming and he neutralises his foes offense with his own pressure. Arguably the greatest trait Golovkin his is calmness. In his 32 professional bouts and copious amateur bouts we've never seen Golovkin look flustered. Instead he looks calm, relaxed, and like a natural born fighter. Few fighters look as calm as Golovkin, even when he's being tagged himself on what appears to be a very granite chin. A chin he certainly believes in. In the opposite corner to Golovkin will be the once beaten Willie "The Mongoose" Monroe Jr (19-1, 6), a man who really made his name last year when he won the Middleweight “Boxcino” tournament on ESPN. Prior to that tournament victory he was a relative unknown with a win over journeyman Michael Walker and a loss to Darnell Boone being his only notable results. Impressively Monroe scored 4 wins last year and has scored 7 wins in the last 24 months, albeit at a much lower level than Golovkin's been competing at. Whilst Golovkin is an intense pressure fighter with thunderous Monroe is more of a boxer-move who lacks the power on his shots but does have nice light movement, quick hands and the ability to get in and out of range with out problems. He's shown an excellent ability to use the ring and a brilliant ability to box on the move whilst keeping opponents off balance and preventing them from setting their feet. It that's ability that helped him over-come decent opponents like Brian Vera, Brandon Adams and Vitaliy Kopylenko. As well as being a tricky mover Monroe is also a southpaw. That makes him doubly tricky at the level he's been competing at. Sadly though he likes real power, his competition, whilst being solid, is several levels below that of Golovkin's and so far he has the record of a prospect rather than a future world champion. He's got a great story and a fantastic attitude but it's really hard to see what he has to really trouble Golovkin. In terms of styles, and just styles, this is interesting. On paper it's pressure fighter against tricky southpaw boxer-mover. Sadly however styles don't over-come a massive difference in ability and there really is very little for Golovkin to be worried about. The champion has the better skills, the more power, the more proven ability, the better chin, the better amateur pedigree, the better footwork and the better shot selection. In many ways all Monroe has that Golovkin doesn't is speed, though that will be neutralised by Golovkin's amazing timing, chin and footwork. What we're expecting is to see Monroe try to make the most of his abilities early on. He'll get on his bike whilst jabbing and moving. After a round or two however Golovkin will get his range, cut the ring off and start to pin Monroe against the ropes. With Monroe on the ropes Golovkin will start to land his body shots and by round 5 or 6 Monroe will become slower, more ragged and eventually be broken down from the sheer relentless pressure of the champion. *Note Monroe will not be fighting for the WBC "interim" title as he's chosen not to pay the sanctioning fees requested. Golovkin however will be defending the title. (Image courtesy of http://www.iboboxing.com) In amateur boxing Kazakhstan is one of the biggest forces in the sport. On the professional level hat success hasn't quite been repeated. Despite the fact the country isn't a major player in the professional ranks it does have one of the sports true stars and most exciting fighters, Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28). Golovkin, also known as “GGG” is the current WBA “super”, WBC “interim” and IBO Middleweight champion as well as one of the sports most exciting, talented and destructive fighters. The 32 year old, originally from Karaganda though now based in Stuttgart, has left a wake of destruction behind him in recent years and will be hoping to bulldoze through another opponent on February 21st as he returns to fight in Monaco for the 3rd time. The well travelled Golovkin has has made his name globally. Originally it was in the amateurs that he caught the attention of fans though since turning professional he has fought Germany, Denmark, Panama, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, USA and Monaco. In each of those countries he has stopped opponents, battered them, beaten them and broken them. Not only has he been beating up opponents for fun but he has been doing it impressive and making light work of solid contenders, former champions and other top 10 level fighters. What has made Golovkin so impressive is that he can box or bang and often combines his devastating power with clever boxing and an insane amount of intelligent pressure. The pressure often makes opponents fearful of throwing and the power punishes opponents who do feel confident enough to try and fight Golovkin off. For many Golovkin's up coming bout will be his toughest as he takes on Britain's highly regarded Martin Murray (29-1-1, 12) a man who has never been dominated and, in the eyes of some, should be undefeated. Murray isn't like Golovkin and isn't like anyone Golovkin has faced in recent years. He is a defensively sound, sharp puncher who is big, strong and confident. He's a man who marched over to Germany and pushed Felix Sturm all the way in a bout scored a draw then later went over the Argentina in front of 40,000 fans and gave Sergio Martinez a very hard bout on route to a controversial loss. In both of those bouts Murray was a visitor and gave a great account of himself in bouts many though he won courtesy of his tight defense, intense pressure and sharp counter punching. What Murray does so well is neutralise fighters offensive work whilst slowly getting his offense off. He can be a slow started but he tends to find a way to stop opponents from getting going. If he can shut down Golovkin's offense then it would be very impressive though we suspect Golovkin will find holes, particularly around the mid section of the Brit. Those holes will be taken advantage of and we suspect the Kazakh will eventually break down Murray who lacks the fire power to keep Golovkin off him. It won't a 1-punch KO style from Golovkin, such as his win over Lujuan Simon in Germany or his Monaco debut against Nobuhiro Ishida, but it will be a gradual breaking down process that eventually sees Murray being saved. If Murray can do the impossible and shut down Golovkin's offense then we could have a very interesting bout, especially if Murray wants to try and fight to his usual style. He's not the quickest or the heaviest handed but the Brit is well schooled and if he can begin to frustrate Golovkin with his defence then he may well find a way to steal rounds. Sadly however we think Golovkin, even if he struggles to land clean, will have the boxing ability to fall back on and take a clear decision win by simple boxing. Of the two scenarios however we do suspect that Golokin will find holes and will break down Murray eventually, even if it does take a few rounds longer than some of his recent bouts. Murray may have been in with good fighters but none of them have been as good, as heavy handed or as intelligent as Golovkin and that is why Golovkin will do what others haven't and break down Murray. From what we understand a win here for Golovkin will see return to action in the US in Summer as he continues to develop his reputation as one of the best fighters on the planet. It's hoped that that bout will be against Miguel Cotto as Golovkin finally gets a shot at the linear Middleweight title before a possible move to Super Middleweight either later this year or early next year. (Image courtesy of www.sportsviewlondon.com) The Russian revolution has been remarkable over the last few years and has really left major question over what boxing would have been like had Russian fighters been allowed to turn professional back in the heyday of the Heavyweight division. Would the likes of Ali, Foreman and Fraizer have been the dominant forces or would the Russians have burst their bubble? Whatever your views on the above question one thing cannot be denied, Russian's are becoming stars in professional boxing and in a big way. We have fighters like Sergey Kovalev, Ruslan Provodnikov and Denis Lebedev who are insanely fun to watch, we have skilled prospects such as Konstantin Ponomarev and Arif Magomedov and we have a lot of fighters on the verges of making a name for themselves. One man who is hoping to make a name for himself this coming weekend is unbeaten former amateur stand out Matt Korobov (24-0, 14), a man once touted for major success though left in the shadows of many of his compatriots. To make a name for himself Korobov will need to get past popular Irishman Andy Lee (33-2, 23) and claim the WBO Middleweight title. For those who haven't seen much of Korobov he's a man who combines genuine talent and power with real frustration. When he's on song he looks really fantastic however he can often look like he's going through the motions and as if he can't be bothered to really pick up the pace. It can be hard to watch him at times though you do so to see the odd spark of aggression or moment of magic. The reason why Korobov is so frustrating is because we know how good he is. As an amateur he was sensational and a 2-time world amateur champion with notable wins over a who's who. He combined well drilled skills with solid speed and very impressive power. As a pro we've seen some of the skills and combinations he can rattle off, in fact at times we've been wowed by him. Sadly however those moments have been few and far between. It may be that Korobov is holding them in the locker for when he needs to draw on his immense ability and amateur experience or it maybe that he simply doesn't have it in him to show more than a few flashed of brilliance. Like Korobov there has been a lot of expectation on the shoulders of Andy Lee. The Irish fighter was one of the final fighters working with the great Manny Steward before the trainer passed away and for years Steward told everyone that Lee was one of the best fighters he had worked with. Whatever Steward saw in Lee hasn't been fully shown to the world though it's clear he is a talented fighter with traits many top fighters wish they could have. Stood at 6'2” with a huge wingspan and fighting from the southpaw stance Lee is certainly a tricky fighter when he's in full flow. Like many Steward protégés Lee makes the most of his natural size and is a pure outside fighter who makes the most of his sharp and rangy jab on the outside. On the inside Lee can be out worked though can often find a way to create distance with his clever movement and spiteful jab. Like many Steward fighters the jab is the key to Lee's boxing but his straight can be destructive and his right hook proved it's worth earlier this year when he detonated on John Jackson with a KO of the year contender. Lee's KO of Jackson is fresh in the memory of most fans and will certainly be something that Korobov is aware of, like wise the jab of Lee. In many ways however we've seen the best of Lee and we've seen him twice cave in when the going got tough with both Brian Vera and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr breaking down the Irish man who was also in trouble against Jackson before landing the hail Mary. With that in mind we suspect Korobov will bring a lot of intelligent pressure, and try to grind down the Irishman who will be forced to box off the back foot. The big question is how does Lee handle the pressure form Korobov? We suspect he won't handle it well for long and although Lee will probably have great success early on with his jab we think by round 6 or 7 he'll be waning big time as Korobov starts to open up his locker and show us the tools he at the ready for when he needs them. The winner of this bout is set to fight unbeaten British contender Billy Joe Saunders, who recently defeated Chris Eubank Jr. Although Saunders is unbeaten and talented we tend to feel that both Korobov and Lee will have too much for him. (Image courtesy of instantboxing.com) |
World Title Previews
The biggest fights get broken down as we try to predict who will come out on top in the up coming world title bouts. Archives
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