Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (37-0-0, 33 KOs) will put his undefeated record and unified middleweight titles on the line Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against Canelo Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs). The bout will pit arguably the two biggest stars in boxing against each other and do so with both seemingly still in their primes.
Golovkin at 35 is eight years Canelo’s senior, but his late start in the United States kept him from a big time bout like this. GGG made his debut stateside back in September 2012 against Grzegorz Proksa and, as he’d done in his 10 previous fights overseas, ended it early with a knockout to defend his WBA and IBO world middleweight titles. Since then, Golovkin has fought 13 times in the U.S., moving his camp to Big Bear, California and fighting out of Los Angeles.
In those 14 fights in the states, Golovkin has finished 13 by way of knockout — his lone decision coming in his most recent bout against Daniel Jacobs. Against Canelo, GGG will have his biggest test but it also represents his chance to prove himself as truly being one of the all-time greats in the sport. Alvarez’s lone loss is to Floyd Mayweather Jr. when he was still young and even then, he gave the undefeated champion one of his best challenges of his career.
Golovkin’s undefeated record, lethal power, and size advantage on Canelo as a natural 160 pound fighter — Alvarez, even when he was the middleweight champion, fought between 154 and 156 pounds — make him the slight favorite in Las Vegas for this fight. While the Jacobs fight was Golovkin’s least convincing win of late, you don’t have to go too far back to find why the oddsmakers have GGG as the favorite. The compilation video below features all 33 knockouts of his professional career, and below that I’ve breakout some of my favorites during his recent run.
Golovkin can send an opponent down at seemingly any time with either hand, but I’m a sucker for body knockouts, which makes his 2013 knockout of Matthew Macklin my favorite of his career. Golovkin attacked Macklin’s body throughout the fight and eventually, that took its toll as a left hook to the liver sent the Irishman to the canvas for good.
Against Marco Antonio Rubio in 2014, Golovkin’s one punch power was on display as he landed one of the most incredible looping, overhand left hooks I’ve ever seen on top of Rubio’s forehead to send him tumbling to the mat and out.
However, the most iconic image of a Golovkin opponent tasting his power for the first time came in his bout against Curtis Stevens, when a left hook sent Stevens down with a bewildered look on his face as he climbed back to his feet.
Eventually, Golovkin wore down Stevens for a stoppage by the referee, but that stunned look from Stevens on the second round knockdown will forever be etched into the minds of GGG’s fans.
