Home Boxing News Eastern European Stranglehold: Golovkin, Kovalev, Klitschko

Eastern European Stranglehold: Golovkin, Kovalev, Klitschko

Life as a boxer right now would be a lot easier if Eastern Europe did not exist. Forged in a socio-economic climate where the upper middle class bares a likeness to American poverty. This desolate region of the world has produced a hardened athlete of chiseled power. It is a fact of today, play ball as a middleweight and above, chances are your gonna get popped by their product.

The dominance of Gennady Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev, and Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) is staggering. With few fights even reaching the cards, this trio is unbeaten in more than a decade. To state that weak opposition is the reason for the triumph of class should be considered ludicrous. Essentially what that is saying, is that there is no elite opponents besides Andre Ward, right now above 160 lbs..That’s inane. No the competition is there, it is just the separation of talent is much more definable.

Picture the boxing landscape without Eastern Europe for a moment. Mayweather Jr. would be able to obtain the middleweight crown with relative ease. Andre Ward could eat at a buffet without fear and Adonis Stevenson would have the opportunity to unify the light heavyweight division by age 40. For goodness sakes, an American would be the heavyweight champ again. That is the stranglehold this region has on the boxing world. These are the events Golovkin, Kovalev, and Klitschko prevent.

Fair warning, the era of Eastern European dominance may not be over anytime soon. If Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) and Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) follow in the steps of their heavyweight front runner. There are at least 5 more years for this to begin to fade (Golovkin is 33 and Kovalev is 32), but the added exposure to this region these three have brought, may end up producing more just like them. Nor should that be surprising either. It has been known for some time that harsh socio-economic climate creates great prizefighters. And over the past 30 years, the climate of Eastern Europe, may have just been the harshest.