GGG vs. Rubio next?

[Evander]

In terms of punch power GGG has been hitting home runs for some time now.
Matching him up with big names is a piece of cake, getting opponents to agree with it is the difficultly.
I think something will happen in the new year, until then they'll likely showcase him for the big one.

[Lackeos]

I hope Golovkin's fans won't be too mad with me if I don't rate him at #1 p4p for beating Rubio.

[ikorolev]

Who else at MW can confidently beat Rubio ? He is dangerous, which is why in many years no champions beside Pavlik and JCCJ dared to face him. I wouldn't give preference to Cotto, Quillin or Soliman over Rubio.

[Evander]

^ Cotto ... Really ?

[ReggieDiggs]

I hope Golovkin's fans won't be too mad with me if I don't rate him at #1 p4p for beating Rubio.

Their probably already mad @ you cuz you aren't suggesting Rubio doesn't even want the fight cuz he doesn't wanna be murdered in cold blood by the Krypton born GGG.

[ikorolev]

Rubio wants to fight. This is the only payday opportunity for him, as the other three champions don't want to step into the ring with him. ... and he at least has a puncher's chance.

[ikorolev]

^ Cotto ... Really ?

Really. Why else wouldn't Cotto defend his title but fight somebody like Lee instead. Rubio is too big and punches too hard for him.

[davie]

Not bad as a keep busy fight, but ultimately not one of the names we all want to see GGG fight

To be fair to Rubio, he may have had set-backs and defeats, but in recent years it's been to guys at the top of the game. he's worked his way into those positions and once he gets beat he goes back to work getting back into contention.

Rubio got into WBC interim position and could have gone for Cotto, surely an easier fight against an older, smaller opponent that would have brought a bigger payday against a future hall of famer

instead he's taking a shot against one of the most feared in any weight class.

as for GGG, if this is a "stay busy" fight, he could have taken worse
But he better deliver something better early next year

[ikorolev]

Rubio can't go for Cotto, as Cotto is ducking him.

[davie]

Rubio can't go for Cotto, as Cotto is ducking him.

Seriously? Ducking him?

Have a quick look at the names on Cottos resume and come back and tell us he's ducking Marco antonio Rubio. honestly? On a thread where we're discussing Rubio being a good "keep busy" fight for GGG

He may not wish to fight him, but that is more likely something to do with him being one of the most recognizable and sellable names in the sport over the last 10 years and he knows he can get 1. bigger fights, 2. better paying fights and 3. unification fights

he can hand pick fights against guys who pose as much, if not more risk than Rubio for far greater reward

[ikorolev]

Rubio can't go for Cotto, as Cotto is ducking him.

Seriously? Ducking him?

Have a quick look at the names on Cottos resume and come back and tell us he's ducking Marco antonio Rubio. honestly? On a thread where we're discussing Rubio being a good "keep busy" fight for GGG

He may not wish to fight him, but that is more likely something to do with him being one of the most recognizable and sellable names in the sport over the last 10 years and he knows he can get 1. bigger fights, 2. better paying fights and 3. unification fights

he can hand pick fights against guys who pose as much, if not more risk than Rubio for far greater reward

Rubio is Cotto's mandatory. Fighting somebody like Lee instead of fighting the mandatory constitutes ducking.

I don't consider Rubio a stay busy fight for GGG. He didn't manage to get a belt, but he is no worse than Quillin or Soliman. Rubio has skills, experience and power. He is dangerous for anybody, especially for a little guy like Cotto.

[davie]

Rubio can't go for Cotto, as Cotto is ducking him.

Seriously? Ducking him?

Have a quick look at the names on Cottos resume and come back and tell us he's ducking Marco antonio Rubio. honestly? On a thread where we're discussing Rubio being a good "keep busy" fight for GGG

He may not wish to fight him, but that is more likely something to do with him being one of the most recognizable and sellable names in the sport over the last 10 years and he knows he can get 1. bigger fights, 2. better paying fights and 3. unification fights

he can hand pick fights against guys who pose as much, if not more risk than Rubio for far greater reward

Rubio is Cotto's mandatory. Fighting somebody like Lee instead of fighting the mandatory constitutes ducking.

I don't consider Rubio a stay busy fight for GGG. He didn't manage to get a belt, but he is no worse than Quillin or Soliman. Rubio has skills, experience and power. He is dangerous for anybody, especially for a little guy like Cotto.

Is cotto fighting Lee? (Andy Lee, I presume?)

I can't see it saying that anywhere.
In which case, i'm struggling to see your point

As for Rubio, if you look at my earlier post, I actually said He would be an acceptable opponent for GGG. But lets not sell him as something he's not. GGG will take him out, convincingly

Finally, your last sentnce doesn't make much sense, Rubio being a challenge for a little guy like Cotto, doesn't equate to him being a real challenge to a monster like GGG.

Too many contradictions here, ma heed's burstin'!

[ikorolev]

In December, Cotto is fighting Andy Lee or somebody else of that level. There were multiple articles about the Lee possibility plus a few twits like this:

Lou DiBella @loudibella · Aug 4
Yes, please! RT@boxing360: Cotto scheduled to return 12/13 on HBO according to Bob Arum.The fight will be at MSG. May be vs @andyleeboxing

No contradictions: BIG challenge for Cotto, SOME challenge for GGG. I think Rubio may become the hardest fight for GGG in the last few years. He has more power than all previous opponents except Stevens, but his ring IQ is much higher than Stevens's. His skills are comparable to Geale's, Macklin's, Rosado's or Ouma's. Once again, I think that Rubio was just unlucky to not get a shot at a "soft" champion in his career.

[davie]

In December, Cotto is fighting Andy Lee or somebody else of that level. There were multiple articles about the Lee possibility plus a few twits like this:

Lou DiBella @loudibella · Aug 4
Yes, please! RT@boxing360: Cotto scheduled to return 12/13 on HBO according to Bob Arum.The fight will be at MSG. May be vs @andyleeboxing

Wasn't aware of this.

Is Lee not fighting at light-middleweight now? Surely he's going in the wrong direction for Cotto, who has just stepped up.

OK, I accept, Lee is hardly the big fight that justifies avoiding Rubio as mandatory.

As ever, it is risk vs reward. Andy poses less risk and arguably, as an Irish fighter known in the states, represents a reasonable payday at MSG











GGG will still fornicate Rubio up though

[ikorolev]

GGG will still eff Rubio up though

Yes, he will, but he shouldn't be as reckless as in the Geale fight. If it was Rubio tagging him, GGG would probably not be able to do that lethal counter.

[davie]

No contradictions: BIG challenge for Cotto, SOME challenge for GGG. I think Rubio may become the hardest fight for GGG in the last few years. He has more power than all previous opponents except Stevens, but his ring IQ is much higher than Stevens's. His skills are comparable to Geale's, Macklin's, Rosado's or Ouma's. Once again, I think that Rubio was just unlucky to not get a shot at a "soft" champion in his career.

I think we are pretty much in agreement then, SOME challenge, i'll conceed, i did say it was a decent match up, but not anything i'll get too excited about

comparing to his previous fights, doesn't say much, as GGG has remained pretty much unchallenged.

The closest thing to a challenge, IMO, is Quillin.
Cotto, wouldn't deal with him, Martinez is done, soliman/sturm/Murray aren't good enough
Quillin, although still not on GGG's level, is the only fight I'd really like to see him in, then GGG is going to have to think about other weight classes.

[ikorolev]

Yes, we are pretty much in agreement.

[davie]

Yes, we are pretty much in agreement.

That's nice!

[Evander]

Hottest fight in boxing is Ward v GGG

[ikorolev]

Hottest fight in boxing is Ward v GGG

Yes, it is, but somebody needs to invest in it. These two excellent boxers are not good enough draws to cover the huge risk of fighting each other.

[krackle]

Staying on the topic of this fight though, I wonder if Sturm/Murray/Korobov all turned down offers.

Sturm is trying to get Sergio to Germany, Murray is busy (Spada) and besides can't get a visa for USA, Korobov is Mandatory to Quillin.

Edit: ops, missed about 25 posts in this thread. Mine is likely redundant.

[ikorolev]

Murray is busy (Spada) and besides can't get a visa for USA

Murray was given too many offers and declined all of them including one for Monaco. He is a mediocre fighter who was given a gift win against Khomitsky and who hopes to take a belt from some "soft" champion like Soliman or Cotto.

[ikorolev]

Meanwhile, the best victories on the resume of Gennady Golovkin are against a terrified Matthew Macklin and a seemingly-shot Daniel Geale… and this seems quite bizarre considering he’s been on the world scene since 2008.

Do you think that the reason of Macklin LOOKING terrified and Geale LOOKING shot is how good Golovkin is ? He is too good to get big stars in the same ring with him. Nobody wants almost certain KO loss when they can get the same money fighting safer opponents.

[crusader]

Fight is official for Oct 18th at the StubHub.

GGG keeping busy.

[crusader]

When we review the quality of opponents Gennady has faced over the last six years… and then we also consider those high-profile fighters that were active during the same time period (at the same weight-class) that he hasn’t faced, it makes for interesting reading: Arthur Abraham; Felix Sturm; Kelly Pavlik; Paul Williams; Sergio Martinez; Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.; Andy Lee; Martin Murray; Darren Barker; Dmitry Pirog; Peter Quillin; Sam Soliman; Anthony Mundine; Daniel Jacobs; and perhaps other middleweights that I may have forgotten… and let’s not forget that Golovkin has repeatedly claimed that he is willing to fight anyone from 154-168lbs, so there’s a whole raft of fighters that I’ve excluded that he theoretically could have faced.

I’m not for one second suggesting that Gennady Golovkin wasn’t capable of beating many of these men… and perhaps there are legitimate reasons why quite a few of these weren’t viable options, but to have not faced any of them seems quite astonishing

It's not astonishing at all when you actually look at the circumstances that have led to many of those fights not happening, such as Abraham moving to 168 for the SS when GGG was still fighting for regional titles and fighters like Pavlik and Williams moving up or retiring when GGG was largely unknown and had very little drawing power. You're trying a bit too hard with inclusions like Daniel Jacobs by the way.

Golovkin fought Daniel Geale when he was past his prime… and when you consider Matthew Macklin’s resume, in the three fights preceding the GGG bout, he lost two of them and the other was a victory over an anonymous fighter. The other men he has faced are on a level below these two guys.

Why was Geale past his prime? His performances heading into the GGG bout seemed in line with his usual standard. Your point about Macklin is extremely weak considering that he was widely seen as beating Sturm (someone you included in your list) and was ahead on one card and only down by a point on the others heading into the final round against Martinez, then the clear number one in the division, before being stopped. Those losses reflected well on him and suggested he could be competitive with some of the best in the division, although he wasn't with GGG.