Boxing Better With Gennady Golovkin Back

(This item originally appeared in Dan Rafael’s Substack.com and is shared here with our readers)

What a great joy it was to see Gennadiy Golovkin back in action for his first fight in 14 months (and only his second in 30 months) on Saturday. He’s so exciting and so compelling to watch, and has been for years. Have you ever seen him in a bad fight? The answer is no and his middleweight unification fight with Ryota Murata was no different. It was terrific.

After a slow start in the first 3-4 rounds, Golovkin, who turned 40 the day before the bout, really picked things up and destroyed Murata, eventually stopping him in the ninth round. Boxing is better when GGG is active and on the minds of fans.

Next, he will get a long-anticipated third fight with Canelo Alvarez in September — the deal is done — as long as Alvarez beats light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol on May 7.

Make no mistake, Canelo is a much tougher foe than Murata, but Golovkin showed he still has spring in his step, a desire to fight and power that has not deserted him.

Hear more on GGG’s win in Japan Saturday and how he looked on the “Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast” by clicking below,

Officially, Golovkin is 0-1-1 against Canelo in two massively controversial decisions. I covered their fights in 2017 and 2018 and scored the first one, which was officially a split draw, for GGG (like most everybody else). Canelo won the rematch by majority decision but I (and numerous other ringside media) had that one a draw.

I’m not sure what GGG will be able to do against Canelo in fight No. 3 given his age and that Alvarez is such a complete fighter now and still seemingly in his prime. But at the very least, GGG, even if he’s not what he was at his terrorizing best, deserves the opportunity to face him again in what may be the biggest fight of the year.