What Gennadiy Golovkin can we expect to see against Kamil Szeremeta?
For the first time in over a year, Gennady Golovkin is set to return to the ring. Defending his IBF and IBO middleweight title in Miami, Golovkin will finally face off against Kamil Szeremeta. This will be a big test for the Kazakhstani.
Following injuries, doubts, and rough outings, will we be able to see the Golovkin of old?
Since 2006, Golovkin has been a true force in the middleweight division. It wasn’t until his 19th fight in which he fought for the WBA middleweight title. From there, he won IBO, WBC, and IBF gold, beating the likes of Martin Murray, David Lemieux, Gabriel Rosado, and Makoto Fuchigami. After a dominant win against Kell Brook and a questionable one against Daniel Jacobs, he drew with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Since then, Golovkin has gone 3-1, the lone loss coming against Alvarez. However, his last win against Sergiy Derevyanchenko was questionable at best.
Something to consider when looking into his upcoming fight is his past bouts. According to BoxStat, in his fight against Brook (2016), Golovkin landed 138 punches, 50 of them jabs and 16 crosses. He landed about 9.2 punches per minute compared to Brook’s 7.5. While Golovkin landed 161 punches against Derevyanchenko (2019), he only landed 5.2 punches per minute. While the years may be a factor, his wars with Canelo may have been as well.
The past few years have not been kind to Golovkin. Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn stated that the champion was ill in his fight against Derevyanchenko. This year alone, the fight against Szeremeta has had to be postponed several times. While a pandemic was a factor, a right calf injury halted any chances of seeing the fight earlier this year.
At 38, “GGG” believes he still has a lot left in the tank. Jonathan Banks, Golovkin’s trainer, believes he is stronger than ever. He ended up telling The Sun.
“I think he has a lot left to offer fans at that elite level,” Banks said. “As long as he continues to train smarter, the sky’s the limit for him. People look at his age and thinks he’s almost finished. But that’s because usually the age of fighters, especially middleweights, when they get to 35, 36, 37-year’s-old, they’re about done.
“I think Bernard Hopkins proved that’s not the case, who came on towards the end of his career, with the beginning of all this social media stuff, vitamins and healthy living. I think with the technology, clean living and different vitamins the guys have access to, you can perform a lot older than what it used to be…You have to train smarter and fight smarter.”
Golovkin does appear to be in the best shape he has been in a few years. During a media conference call, Golovkin and his team put down any doubt of his training process and his health. At 159.2 pounds, he believes he is ready.
Although he has only five wins via knockout, Szeremeta brings a unique style into the ring. At 31, he is fresh and brings a sense of unpredictability. A European middleweight champion, Szeremeta doesn’t think he will shock the world by taking out boxing royalty.
If Golovkin wins, he is one step closer to facing Canelo for the third time. This is what DAZN and the rest of the boxing world wants. Canelo fights tomorrow, December 19 against Callum Smith, the latter defending his WBA and The Ring super-middleweight titles. There is also the idea of him facing Jaime Munguia with a win tonight.
Will we see the best of Golovkin as he enters the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino? All eyes will be on him as he participates in the first half of an epic double-header with a lot on the line.
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