Gennady Golovkin has packed a lot in. A gold standard career across 391 bouts as an amateur and a pro. Now 37 the question is how much does he have left?
His meeting at Madison Square Garden with Sergiy Derevyanchenko for the vacant IBF middleweight crown will provide the answer.
Derevyanchenko is part of the rich wave of fighters from Ukraine marching on America, career amateurs chasing gold on the professional stage.
While he might not be quite in the class of Vasyl Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk and Oleksandr Gvosdyk he was good enough to win 371 of his 390 amateur bouts.
His only defeat as a pro was a split decision loss to Danny Jacobs, who took Golovkin the distance.
Like Golovkin, Derevyanchenko was feared in the amateurs, a technical boxer with destructive power. Though 33, he is still the right side of nature’s clock to push Golovkin to the limit.
I suspect father time is on Golovkin’s case, catching up. No matter how fit and disciplined he is, at this level and at this stage of his life everything starts to slow.
Make no mistake, this is a dangerous fight for Golovkin. Though he made short work of Steve Rolls following his disputed loss to Saul Alvarez, there were signs during his only career defeat that the ferocity was waning.
Canelo spins in the same alpha orbit so it is hard to know for sure. Derevyanchenko comes forward and is aggressive. If there has been any diminution of output and stamina, it will show.
Golovkin might be one of the lucky ones who defy age or it could be the beginning of the end. He is back at world level here. How will he hold a shot? What is his power like?
The sport is still processing last week’s epic in Los Angeles, where Errol Spence won a split-decision win over Shawn Porter in the welterweight unification bout.
It was closer than we thought but I made Spence a worthy winner and was surprised that one judge scored for Porter.
The fight showed boxing’s inherent ability to create drama, to produce the unexpected, to deliver thrills and tension like no other sport.
Expect more of the same at one of boxing’s greatest arenas. It’s going to be explosive, a real tear-up. Don’t be surprised to see both on the floor or Golovkin beaten.
That said I expect Golovkin to prevail by decision.
Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone @McGuigans_Gym @CyclonePromo
