Gennady Golovkin’s options for next fight in 2019

By Mike Smith

Boxingnews24.com

Gennady Golovkin is still resting up following his second controversial fight against the popular Mexican fighter Saul Canelo Alvarez on September 15. Golovkin 38-1-1, 34 KOs) will be back in action in the first quarter of 2019, possibly against one of the world champions. GGG wants a trilogy fight with Alvarez (51-1-2, 35 KOs), but he’s not going to be available for a third fight until possibly September of next year.

The rematch against Canelo was a really hard one for Golovkin with him taking him a lot of head shots. Although GGG and his fans think he won, he took more punishment than he had since his fight with Kassim Ouma in 2011. It’s important that Golovkin stops his next opponent in early 2019. He doesn’t need to be taking a lot of shots like he did against Canelo, who was backing him up throughout the fight. It would be a good idea for Golovkin not to back up when attacked, since that’s likely what all of the guys are going to be trying from to do against him from this point on. They’re going to be following Canelo’s blueprint that he created last September, and they’re going to try and back him up. The theory is Golovkin can’t fight going backwards. If that’s true, then Golovkin can’t afford to backup against anybody he faces from this point on.

Canelo’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions are mindful that they can’t wait too long before they make the third fight with Golovkin. If the decision is made by Golden Boy to put off the trilogy fight with GGG until 2020, then it would have to be seen as an effort to make sure he’s a little older before they risk letting Canelo fight him again. Many boxing fans feel that GGG won both fights against Canelo, but was the victim of a robbery in Las Vegas.

In surveying the middleweight division, WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Rob Brant would give Golovkin his best chance at winning an easy title in his next fight in early 2019. Like I said. Canelo likely won’t fight Golovkin until at least September 2019, and he might not even fight him then. Jacobs is waiting for a unification match against Canelo, so his promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing USA isn’t going to risk having him beaten by Golovkin again, even though he likes to say all the time that Daniel beat GGG last year. Hearn still won’t make the Jacobs-Golovki rematch until after he gets him a fight with Canelo. WBO champion Demetrius Andrade would be a difficult fight for Golovkin due to the American fighter’s southpaw stance, height and mobility Golovkin would have to figure out a way of overcoming all those advantages that Andrade has going for him. It wouldn’t be a slam dunk win for Golovkin like it was in his knockout victory over Vanes Martirosyan. Golovkin would have to figure out a way of getting to Andrade without getting countered by his left hand all night.

Here are Golovkin’s options for his next fight in early 2019:

– Jermall Charlo: The World Boxing Council are looking to take charge of the match-making of Golovkin by ordering him to fight interim WBC champion Jermall Charlo.

– Rob Brant: This is a guy that GGG’s trainer Abel Sanchez has spoken about as a possibility for Golovkin in the first quarter of 2019. Brant is coming off of a 12 round unanimous decision victory over Ryota Murata on October 20. Brant, 28, completely dominated Murata in beating him by a lopsided 12 round decision. Brant’s high workrate would make it tough for Golovkin if he doesn’t KO him. Golovkin wouldn’t be able to match Brant’s work rate, so he would have to get him out of there in order to avoid a grueling fight.

– Billy Joe Saunders: This wouldn’t be a good option right now for Golovkin. Saunders just tested positive for a performance enhancing substance. If GGG wants to make sure he fights only fighters with a history of testing clean, then he needs to go in another direction and not face Saunders.

– Daniel Jacobs: Golovkin has already beaten Jacobs, so there’s no upside to facing him in a needless rematch. Jacobs will likely run from Golovkin like he did last year, and try and win an ugly decision. Even if Golovkin does beat Jacobs, he’ll likely not acknowledge that he was beaten. What’s the point in GGG fighting someone that will just complain afterwards that he deserved the win. Golovkin needs to fight guys that will stand there and fight him rather than someone that will be on the run like Jacobs.

– Demetrius Andrade: This isn’t a good option for Golovkin. Andrade is a tall southpaw, who likes to move a lot. Golovkin might end up having to chase Andrade around the ring like he would with Jacobs. This would a dull fight with GGG having to pursue a guy that is just spoiling

– Saul Canelo Alvarez: This is a good option for Golovkin if it’s there. It probably won’t be though. Canelo is going to be fighting other guys for a while, and it’s unclear whether he wants to fight Golovkin a third time. Golovkin hurt Canelo a couple of times in their rematch last September, and he might not want to take the risk of facing the Kazakhstan fighter a third time.

– Callum Smith: Moving up to super middleweight to face WBA Super World champion Smith would be an excellent fight for Golovkin. It would be a risky fight for GGG though.

– Sergiy Derevyanchenko: This would be an interesting fight if Golovkin doesn’t mind facing an opponent that is coming off of a close 12 round decision loss to Jacobs. Derevyanchenko isn’t a belt holder, so there’s not much Golovkin can get in fighting him other than having a fighter that will stand and trade with him.

– Gilberto Ramirez: This would be a good fight if Golovkin were signed with Top Rank. Ramirez is with ESPN, so making a fight between him and Golovkin might prove to be impossible unless both are with ESPN.

– Jose Uzcategui: Golovkin would need a good set of wheels to face Uzcategui, who is now more of a boxer/puncher, and not the stationary slugger that was soundly beaten by Matt Korobov in 2014. It’s a winnable fight for Golovkin if he’s willing to move up to 168 to face a big guy with arguably more punching power than Canelo. Uzcategui hits very hard, he’s young, big, and he’s got boxing skills. This wouldn’t be an easy fight for GGG. He would need to go after Uzcategui if he wanted to win the fight. This is another fight that Golovkin needs to score a knockout if he doesn’t want to take a lot of punishment.