The
Middleweight championship fight between undefeated WBA/IBO world champion
Gennady Golovkin and top contender and former two-time world title challenger
Marco Antonio Rubio had what appeared on paper to have all the makings of a
shootout between two knockout artists.
Golovkin, one of Boxing’s hottest rising stars, who entered the fight
undefeated in thirty professional fights, scoring twenty-seven knockouts. The
champion also entered having knocked out his previous seventeen opponents and
successfully defended his title eleven times.
The champion faced what appeared to be his toughest test to date in
Marco Antonio Rubio.
Rubio, the
longtime Jr. Middleweight and Middleweight contender and veteran of sixty-six professional
fights entered the fight having scored fifty-one knockouts in fifty-nine career
wins. Rubio also held interim status in the World Boxing Council’s (WBC)
Middleweight ratings. Before the fight
took place however, there was a slight controversy that emerged when Rubio
failed to make the 160lb. Middleweight limit at the weigh-in on October 17th. Rubio who weighed 161 ¾lbs. was fined
$100,000 of his purse for the bout, lost his interim status in the WBC’s
ratings, and was unable to win Golovkin’s unified championship if he were to
emerge from the bout victorious.
Although
Rubio was unable to make weight, the championships as well as Rubio’s previous
interim status remained on the line for the champion Golovkin. All the
anticipation of what some expected to be a head-on collision between two power
punchers culminated when Golovkin and Rubio squared off on October 18th at the
StubHub Center in Carson, California. No
matter how a fight may look on paper however, sometimes it does not always
appear to live up to the anticipation that often precedes a fight when the
fight actually takes place.
Although the
first round of this fight was competitive the clear difference was not only the
champion’s ability to out land the challenger, but also the systematic approach
in which Golovkin set up his offense. Even though what has endeared Golovkin to
Boxing fans is his seek and destroy style along with devastating punching
power, what should not be overlooked is Golovkin’s approach that sets up his
offense.
Golovkin has
shown an ability to be aggressive, but at the same time be very accurate with
his offense and has also shown patience in waiting for opportunities to present
itself without looking recklessly for a knockout. Golovkin’s ability to cut off
the ring and be very accurate with his offense is one facet along with his
punching power that makes him such a devastating force.
Rubio was
able to land some punches in the first round, but he could not dictate how the
fight was to be fought and Golovkin was able to take Rubio’s offense and keep
pressing forward. This would set the stage for the second round. Golovkin
continued to apply pressure on Rubio in the second round behind his consistent
jab, which set up opportunities to land his right hand. Rubio did land a couple
of solid body shots in close, but he could not land anything significant enough
to halt the champion’s pressure. A right hand followed by a left uppercut from
Golovkin sent Rubio back on the ropes. Golovkin would knock Rubio down with a left
hook to the head moments later. Rubio was counted out by Referee Jack Reiss at
1:19 of round two. With the win Golovkin scored his eighteenth consecutive
knockout and his twelfth successful title defense of his unified WBA/IBO
Middleweight world championship.
Prior to this
fight I stated that it would be interesting to see how Golovkin would respond
to Rubio’s punching power. It was clear in this fight that the edge in punching
power was in Golovkin’s favor. I also stated prior to this fight that it would
be of equal interest to see how Rubio would respond to Golovkin’s power. Even
though this fight did not last long, Rubio did take some punishment before
absorbing the left hook that ended the fight.
Although this
ultimately did not prove to be the test that some expected for Golovkin, it was
another demonstration of his devastating punching power on full display.
Whether or not Marco Antonio Rubio was affected in any way by the difficulty he
had in trying to make the Middleweight limit of 160lbs. is a subject for
debate. This observer believes that it was more a case of Golovkin being simply
the harder puncher of the two more than the potential issue of weight that led
to Rubio’s downfall in this fight. As for Rubio’s weight issues, some may criticize
a fighter for not making weight. Sometimes, despite all the effort a fighter
might make in training, the fighter’s body simply cannot make a weight limit.
I suggested
prior to the fight that Rubio may have been looking at this fight as his last
chance to win a world championship. If this is not the end for Rubio and if he
can no longer make the Middleweight limit, it will be interesting to see what
potential options may be available to him in the 168lb. Super-Middleweight
division.
As for the
champion Gennady Golovkin the outlook for him remains the same as it was
following his title defense over Daniel Geale earlier this year. As Golovkin
continues to score knockouts Boxing fans and experts alike will continue to
question who may be able to give Golovkin a significant test. Off of this
latest victory, it will be interesting to see if fighters who are considered by
most to be stars of the sport in or around the Middleweight division will be
interested in challenging the undefeated champion for his title.
What will be
interesting coming out of this fight is if a potential fight between Golovkin
and WBC champion Miguel Cotto is on the table in 2015. In addition to retaining
his title against Rubio, Golovkin also earned interim status in the WBC’s
ratings. Although this is likely the first time a world champion has earned
status that would put him in line to challenge for another title in the same
weight division, I believe that is a moot point given that a fight between
Golovkin and Cotto would be a unification bout if it can be made. For his part
following the fight against Rubio, Golovkin called out Cotto, Saul Alvarez, and
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for potential fights.
This observer
believes it’s more likely that a fight between either Golovkin and Cotto or
Alvarez seems more logical at this point, due to Chavez Jr. fighting in the
Super-Middleweight division and it is doubtful that he could move back down in
weight to 160lbs. given his own difficulties making that weight when he was
campaigning as a Middleweight. Another
scenario if a fight with Cotto, Alvarez, or Chavez Jr. is not what is next for
Golovkin is for Golovkin to potentially face Danny Jacobs or Dmitry Chudinov who each hold regular/interim
status in the WBA’s ratings. With the situation concerning what might become of
the IBF Middleweight championship remaining uncertain for the time being, it
will be interesting to see who Golovkin will fight next out of the potential
five opponents.
With
now twelve successful title defenses a storyline that might become increasingly
interesting with each title defense Gennady Golovkin attempts will be the
potential march towards the Middleweight championship record for successful
title defenses in the division which was set by current unified WBA/IBF
Light-Heavyweight world champion Bernard Hopkins, who reigned atop the
Middleweight division from 1995-2005 defending his title an incredible twenty
times. We will see what the next chapter in the career of Gennady Golovkin has
to offer.
“And That’s
The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing
Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.
Follow Beau
Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison
No comments:
Post a Comment