By: Sean Crose
“It’s hard to deny that Golovkin is no longer his top spot in the ring.”
The words above were not written after the third match between Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin last weekend. They were written by me in 2019, after Golovkin fought in a less prominent style with Sergiy Derevyanchenko. After being completely dominated by Canelo on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, it finally became clear to everyone that the long-standing rumors were true, that Golovkin, who was once considered the man The most feared participant in all of professional boxing, who has been dubbed “Triple G”, is no longer the boxer he used to be.
Not only was Canelo faster and stronger of the two men on Saturday, Golovkin seemed genuinely hesitant to engage. It was a look no one had ever seen from a Kazakh lion before. However, it was not the look of a frightened man, it was the look of a man whose body could no longer function as his mind wanted. It’s the look many boxing fans have seen over and over on the faces of seemingly countless boxing veterans. While it was fun to see Canelo get the victory he deserved and dominate last weekend – before being so kind to his old nemesis Golovkin – it was always a little sad to witness such a great boxer. falling from above.
The downfall, however, is probably far from over for Golovkin. “Some might argue,” I wrote back in 2019, “that Golovkin’s hard-fought victory, less impressive, over (Daniel) Jacobs on a winter night so long ago was the first indication. that Kazakh warriors show signs of slipping. Sure, the Jacobs caused Golovkin all kinds of trouble during their 2017 outing. Myself and several others in the press room that night really felt Jacobs had done enough to win. The umpires saw otherwise, but clearly Golovkin didn’t do what the fans who used him did on that cold March evening: He didn’t mop the floor with his opponent.
A lot has to do with Jacobs, of course, himself a world-class boxer willing to go above and beyond chance. Still, it’s hard to shake the feeling that Triple G’s best days are behind him. It was the sixth month before the first battle with Canelo. Golovkin was 34 years old at the time, two years older than Canelo when he slipped mid-rope on Saturday night in Vegas. The fact that Golovkin can perform at the level he did in Saturday’s rubber game, at the age of forty, against the likes of Canelo no less, is quite extraordinary indeed.
