Golovkin looks old + faded, Canelo agrees to the fight (another superfight that should have happened 5 years ago).

[Andrew Kearney]

You know, watching 50 year old+ Bernard Hopkins getting KTFO out of the ring by a much younger Joe Smith Jr, or Wladimir Klitschko being TKO'd by Anthony Joshua, if we've learned anything from those fights its that you can't beat the clock and boxing is a young man's sport. Father time is "undefeated". Once you get to your mid 30's in boxing, it's a downhill descent. You won't get any better, you'll only get worse.

Gennady Golovkin is 35 years old, right around the age where things can start to go wrong, and in his last 2 fights against Kell Brook and Danny Jacobs the truth is GGG has looked like an old fighter. Not as fast, strong, or explosive as he used to be, or the guy we remember who stopped Curtis Stevens, stopped Gabe Rosado, or stopped David Lemieux. He would have easily KO'd Brook and Jacobs years back, but now these fights are a lot harder for him because he has faded as a fighter. Gennady's age has started to show in recent fights.

Golovkin-Canelo is a fight that should have been made 3, 4, or even 5 years ago when both guys were legitimately at their best. Canelo and his shrewd management team have waited to a time when GGG has made himself to look vulnerable to take the fight. Basically, they've chosen a time when their risks have been minimized so that they have the best shot at winning and making the most money.

Takes a lot of credibility and integrity out of the sport (not that boxing had any to begin with). Canelo and his team are *excuse my French* but pieces of sh1t for making this fight now. Opportunist pieces of garbage that the sport would be better off without. They clearly never wanted to "fight the best" otherwise they would have taken this fight years ago when it made more sense. On the contrary they've waited for a time when GGG looks vulnerable to take the fight.

[Tanzio]

Not a bad post.

Team GingerHead is actually taking this fight a year earlier than they would prefer to, imo. The pressure has gotten to them and 3G did not look as dominant v Jacobs.

It is important to remember that Jacobs is likely the second best MW on the planet right now and 3G defeated him. You are basing your opinion that 3G has declined on the fact that he did not ktfo the second best MW on the planet and that he did not ktfo one of the top three welters on the planet fast enough.

I am not convinced that GingerHead could defeat Jacobs or Brook, or for that matter Lemieux. GingerHead is the one who has gone through the motions for a couple of years now. 3G is coming off a fight against a legit top level MW. GingerHead will meet his first elite MW in September.

[MachoTime]

Not a bad post.

Team GingerHead is actually taking this fight a year earlier than they would prefer to, imo. The pressure has gotten to them and 3G did not look as dominant v Jacobs.

It is important to remember that Jacobs is likely the second best MW on the planet right now and 3G defeated him. You are basing your opinion that 3G has declined on the fact that he did not ktfo the second best MW on the planet and that he did not ktfo one of the top three welters on the planet fast enough.

I am not convinced that GingerHead could defeat Jacobs or Brook, or for that matter Lemieux. GingerHead is the one who has gone through the motions for a couple of years now. 3G is coming off a fight against a legit top level MW. GingerHead will meet his first elite MW in September.

That was my first impression Canelo's team are taking the fight a year or two early. Don't think GGG is faded or old like the OP says. I think GGG has faced better quality of opposition in his last two fights. Especially Jacobs.

[Andrew Kearney]

And people wonder why this is a dead sport.

Superfights occurring 5 years later than they should be. Sh1tty hometown and home country decisions. Mainstream media doesn't even have a boxing section anymore. No one cares. Its a dead sport.

[Tanzio]

And people wonder why this is a dead sport.

Superfights occurring 5 years later than they should be. Sh1tty hometown and home country decisions. Mainstream media doesn't even have a boxing section anymore. No one cares. Its a dead sport.

TML, we are nearing the middle of the best year of boxing so far in this millennium, and you choose now to claim the sport is dead?

You are the one stuck in the past.

1. We just witnessed the best HW championship fight in a helluva long time. The HW div is healthier than it has been in at least 15 years.

2. Cruiserweight is afire with good fighters and matchups.

3. We are getting SOGgy v Krusher II in little over a month.

4. 3G v GingerHead is on the docket.

5. Brook v Spence is in a couple of weeks.

6. Crawford is fighting a legit threat in a couple of weeks.

7. Mikey is back in the mix and will likely fight Crawford or Lomassiah within the year.

8. Gervonta Davis, a 22 year old super feather, has the nutz to invade the UK in a week. If he gets by that, who knows what he will do (maybe call out Lomassiah?)

9. Feather is stacked in every direction with big fights coming up and new talent climbing the ladder.

That is just off the top of my head. There is tons more good news in boxing happening. Boxing is on the rise. It is not dead.

[observer1]

Better late than never and far better than the farce that was Mayweather v Pac.

However, sums up the sport for me.

[Badhusker]

I think Canelo waiting til now is not a hidden thing among avid boxing fans. Everyone all knows already that Canelo blatantly ducked GGG. Now that GGG looked somewhat vulnerable at the age of 35-36, Goldenboy wants the fight. GGG is older, yes, but not faded to the point that he will probably deserve the win vs the diva Canelo. I hope GGG KO's Canelo.

[victor-romeo]

GGG looks somewhat faded and at age 34 that makes sense.
Canelo does appear to be manipulative and waited for GGG to slip,
I do think GGG is natural Middlweight advantage to GGG.
I do think GGG has enough left in the tank seriously destroy Canelo.
If Canelo can beat GGG it would legitimize him in my mind as I see Canelo as a good not great fighter, that is protected in the matchmaking they do for him.

[Horse]

5 years ago?

Hardly a super fight back then.

Ridiculous.

[Tanzio]

5 years ago?

Hardly a super fight back then.

Ridiculous.

Incontheivable

[Andrew Kearney]

5 years ago?

Hardly a super fight back then.

Ridiculous.

5 years may be stretching it a bit, but yes, it would have been best to make this fight say in 2013, or 2014 optimally.

GGG was a much better fighter then than he is now, and both guys were big names then as they are now. At 35 years old, GGG has started to show his age and just a bit of weakness, so Canelo's team has finally decided to accept the fight. They were clearly biding their time and waiting till GGG looked vulnerable (as he has in his last 2 fights) before making the fight.

Canelo and his team are real pieces of sh1t. They picked this shot and waited for the precise moment that GGG looks old to make the fight. This fight should have been made years ago. Then it would have truly been two prime fighters in a great fight. Making the fight today, its a fading P4Per on the decline (Golovkin) VS a con artist opportunist who's picked his shots ultra carefully (Canelo).

One more thing: GGG has no chance to win a decision. The deck will be stacked against him like it was for Kovalev VS Ward, and he will need a KO to win. I think the most likely outcome in this fight is GGG being robbed on points.

Real fans should boycott the fight to be honest, or better yet, boycott the sport.

[jezzamundo]

While I agree with the sentiment, I think the OP is guilty of some pretty major exaggeration.

Mayweather-Pacquiao was over five years overdue when it happened and both fighters were clearly past their best. The best time for that fight would have been March 2010, which was when it was originally scheduled for. It wouldn't have made the fighters as rich as their eventual bout did, but it would have been a better, more intriguing fight and better for the sport.

Let's look at the stages of the careers both fighters were in for the examples given of three, four and five years ago:

5 years - Golovkin was about to defend his titles against Makato Fuchigami, and was coming off wins over Lajuan Simon and a gruelling 10 round TKO over Kassim Ouma. He had never fought in America and was largely unheard of, despite holding the WBA regular title.
Canelo held the WBC 154lb title and had just beaten Shane Mosley and was starting to make a name for himself, but he wasn't yet a PPV star.

4 years - Golovkin was coming off a devastating win over Nobuhiro Ishida and had his previous two fights on HBO. He was about to face Matthew Macklin, who many predicted would be the toughest opponent of his career.
Canelo was coming off a lucky decision win over Austin Trout and was about to set up a megafight with Floyd Mayweather.

3 years - Golovkin was coming off a win over the relatiely unheard of Osumanu Adama and was soon to take on former champ, Daniel Geale.
Coming off the Mayweather whitewash, Canelo had knocked out Angulo and was about to take on Erislandy Lara, where he won another controversial decision.

To summarise, 5 years ago would have been out of the question and 4 and 3 years ago would have been premature. The pressure for this fight to happen only occurred once Canelo had beaten Miguel Cotto, which happened in November 2015, less than two years ago. The earliest date for this fight to have realistically occurred was May 2016 - one year ago - so in reality, it is happening about 16 months later than the ideal date. It just seems longer than that because Martinez and Cotto had been avoiding GGG before Canelo did.

[jezzamundo]

Also, to be fair, the talk of GGG being past his best only began after the Brook and Jacobs fights, the former of which was only eight months ago. He gave possibly his best ever performance against David Lemiuex less than two years ago and looked as devastating as ever against an admittedly outmatched Dominic Wade just over a year ago. GGG hasn't always given scintillating performances - he looked human for good portions of the fights against Rosado, Stevens and Monroe. GGG has never been a fast fighter - he had noticeably slower hands than his opponents in several fights, including against Proksa, Stevens, Geale and Monroe before his last two fights. Everyone knew he would be much slower than Brook and Jacobs because he wins fight with his power, pressure and boxing IQ.

It is certainly probable that GGG's reflexes are slightly dulled compared to what they used to be, but I think the biggest difference is that Brook and Jacobs are clearly the best opponents he has ever faced. Against Kell Brook, he was facing a borderline p4p top 10 fighter and one of the best welterweights in the world. Against Daniel Jacobs, he was facing an underrated, huge middleweight with great athleticism and enough power to prevent GGG from being reckless. While I think a younger GGG would have beaten them, perhaps a little more convincingly, I disagree he'd have knocked them out easily (though you could argue that he DID knock Brook out relatively easily).