This past weekend we saw Gennady Golovkin triumph over Japan’s Ryota Murata in 9 rounds after flooring the now former WBA middleweight champion with a right hand which sent Murata crashing to his knees. His corner rushed into the ring to save their man from another beat down. The fight was a unification contest, with Golovkin’s IBF title that was also at stake.
Since Golovkin’s win on Saturday, it is now expected that completion of a trilogy between him and Saul Alvarez will materialise in the not too distant future providing the Mexican overcomes Dmitry Bivol next month at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas. However, it has become evident that Golovkin, who is now 40 years of age, has slowed down in intensity.
Does that mean that the writing is on the wall for Gennady should he fight Canelo for a third time?
Well, the smart money should say yes. But I don’t think it is entirely conclusive.
Against Murata, the Kazakhstan boxer bided his time and broke down his opponent. Murata was able to land body punches and some mean looking hooks to the head as well. It does look as if some of the intensity in Golovkin’s fighting ability has waned somewhat. But we should also keep in mind that, even in his prime, Golovkin had to wait in a number of his fights to get a stoppage victory. They were not frequently early wins, at least not since he won his first world championship title. And the now 42-1 middleweight has always been hittable if you check out some of his earlier bouts.
At this point, if I had to bet on a winner between Golovkin and Alvarez then I would put my money on Alvarez, probably by another decision. But I would expect such a decision would be more clearer in favour of “Canelo.” But if Golovkin can somehow recapture the type of intensity that he used to bring with him then Canelo could be in for another tough night.