GGG vs. Rubio next?

[jujigatame]

Is this really the best they can do? Is K2 just offering too little money for GGG's opponents or is everyone really terrified of GGG ending their careers as viable MW contenders?

[giacomino]

Is this really the best they can do? Is K2 just offering too little money for GGG's opponents or is everyone really terrified of GGG ending their careers as viable MW contenders?

Wish he was fighting somebody better, but don't have that much of a problem with this, considering who is available and willing right now. Beating up Geale and Rubio in the same year makes this the most competitive year GGG has had in terms of opposition and it would be the first time he's fought legitimate top 10-15ish guys back-to-back.

[stevekrazy]

Its for October 18th, less than 3 months since the Geale fight, its good that he is keeping busy rather than wait for a big fight, Rubio is not a bad opponent for a stay busy fight, he should be able to fight back

[jujigatame]

Soliman is now saying he wants Golovkin in March or April. Hopefully that fight actually happens. Maybe Cotto or Quillin would be preferable but the odds of those fights getting made is practically nil.

[jujigatame]

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

[scallum]

Don't recall Mw being this soft in a very long time

[Chepppaaa]

rubio....an old guy....whyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....whhyyyyyyy :geek2:

[ikorolev]

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

Rubio is no worse than Murray or current version of Sturm. The guy has 50+ KOs and he handled Lemieux very well. If Froch/Chavez/Cotto/Canelo/Soliman/Quillin are not available, Rubio is as good as it gets. Korobov was another good option, but I don't think that Korobov's management is ready for the GGG fight.

[jujigatame]

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

Rubio is no worse than Murray or current version of Sturm. The guy has 50+ KOs and he handled Lemieux very well. If Froch/Chavez/Cotto/Canelo/Soliman/Quillin are not available, Rubio is as good as it gets. Korobov was another good option, but I don't think that Korobov's management is ready for the GGG fight.

I disagree. I think Murray or Sturm would outbox Rubio pretty easily. Rubio is old and slow, he has power but almost all of those 51 KOs were against nobodies.

[crusader]

I strongly disagree about Murray and Sturm easily outboxing Rubio, as the former just scraped by Sergey Khomitsky recently and Sturm (you call Rubio old but Sturm is older) has generally looked like crap lately. Also, why mention Rubio fighting nobodies but then 'wonder' if Korobov turned down an offer?

Rubio is a fine opponent given who is available.

[jujigatame]

Uzcategui is better than anyone Rubio has faced since Lemieux. Hell, so is Ossie Duran.

Rubio is 34 and hasn't beaten anyone decent in over 3 years. If he's the best you can find, so be it, but I think it's flat wrong to imply he's a better opponent than Sturm, Murray, or Korobov.

[crusader]

I'm not sure why you mention Rubio's age when Sturm is 35 and looked horrible in his last fight, losing almost every round to an even older Sam Soliman. Was Geale old at 33 too? I don't think there's much of a gap between Uzcategui and Spada, whom Rubio easily beat, and I thought Rubio was fairly competitive in losing to Chavez and certainly competitive enough for GGG to make a statement by comparison if he wins emphatically; dropping Rubio and stopping him at least by the middle of the fight would also probably look good compared to Pavlik's 9 round retirement victory over him. The win over Lemieux was three years ago, but I don't think Rubio has slipped nor do I see much of a case for saying he's fought nobodies and is an unsuitable opponent while Korobov would be a suitable opponent.

I think you're being fairly picky in complaining about Rubio. There are very few fighters at MW who would clearly be better opponents and realistic options (is Sturm realistic? He doesn't fight outside Germany and has a history of ducking GGG), and GGG just fought and is staying active when most fighters at that level would be on the shelf for another couple of months rather than taking on a top-10ish guy.

[cold187]

rubio is only 2y older than GGG for god sake

[jujigatame]

I only mention Rubio's age in conjunction with the fact that his only good wins came many years ago, and that he's already past what was a relatively unimpressive prime.

Spada is a can who has never beaten anyone decent in his career, ever. At least Uzcategui was coming off a KO of David Lopez who was a solid B-lister for the better part of 10 years.

You're right that there are few better opponents that are realistic options, but that speaks more to the politics and economics of boxing than it speaks to Rubio being a compelling contender.

[crusader]

I wouldn't say 2011 is 'many years ago' and I don't think Rubio's slowed since stopping Lemieux. GGG operates within the existing system of politics and economics, so I don't think his opponent selection should be assessed independent of the context which constrains his choices; Rubio isn't a compelling challenger, but relative to the strength of the division, who is available, and when GGG fought last, I think he's a solid opponent.

Spada, who is incidentally scheduled to fight Murray next, doesn't have standout wins but he was competitive with decent opponents like Barker and Zbik, and only Rubio dominated and stopped him. Lopez is an ok name but he was gifted a draw with Don George immediately prior to the Uzcategui fight and I think he was well past it when the latter stopped him.

[jujigatame]

Personally I would pick Lemieux over Rubio in a rematch. Lemieux was only what, 21 or 22 at the time? He got throw into the fire a little too fast.

I stand by what I said about Spada. He is a complete nobody. Murray will not have any problems with him.

[crusader]

Cool. I think Murray will beat Spada handily as well, though I'm unsure if he'll win every round and stop him.

I still think Rubio is a fine opponent given the context and not a significantly worse choice than guys like Sturm or Korobov. In my view Sturm (again, it's very questionable if he'd ever be a realistic option) would arguably be a worse choice given how badly he performed last fight, while Korobov would be comparable to Rubio though perhaps better due to stronger recent wins and the aura of an unbeaten record and his amateur excellence.

[Jpreisser]

I don't think it is a bad opponent. He was in line for a shot at Cotto, who obviously is going another route. Rubio is a legitimate top-15 guy with big power, which brings some excitement. I think it will end similarly to Rubio-Jantuah: http://youtu.be/onigBCc76JY?t=1m44s .

Maybe Murray wasn't an option because they wanted to fight out west.

[jujigatame]

Cool. I think Murray will beat Spada handily as well, though I'm unsure if he'll win every round and stop him.

I still think Rubio is a fine opponent given the context and not a significantly worse choice than guys like Sturm or Korobov. In my view Sturm (again, it's very questionable if he'd ever be a realistic option) would arguably be a worse choice given how badly he performed last fight, while Korobov would be comparable to Rubio though perhaps better due to stronger recent wins and the aura of an unbeaten record and his amateur excellence.

Fair enough, I think this is one of the most civil disagreements I've ever had on the internet. Kudos to you, sir.

[Boxing Prospect]

No complaints at all here. Rubio gets his shot at a title and Golovkin gets another top 10-15 type opponent whilst also staying busy.

[Datsue]

No complaints at all here. Rubio gets his shot at a title and Golovkin gets another top 10-15 type opponent whilst also staying busy.

Same. Rubio's a good upper-echelon gatekeeper level fighter. He's got miles on the clock & fails at the biggest hurdles but he's in better form than Felix at this time, imo. Also I can't stand Sturm, so you know, I'm probably biased but I'd rather watch Rubio fight GGG than Sturm.

[TheWigwam]

Rubio is decent, he is better than Lee and Macklin at this point imo and the fight isn't bad at all

[punchoutsb]

Personally I would pick Lemieux over Rubio in a rematch. Lemieux was only what, 21 or 22 at the time? He got throw into the fire a little too fast.

Same here. I think down the line Lemieux will have the best chance at dethroning GGG.

Still, this isn't a bad fight considering he can't get any of the top guys in with him.

[expe]

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

Murray can't box in the US, Korobov's mandatory for the WBO, not sure about Sturm, but he can make good money boxing bums in Germany, no need to go to America to get battered by Golovkin.

[ikorolev]

Shouldn't they be already starting camps for the October 18th fight ? It is strange that there has been no official announcement when the fight is only two months away.