this might just be the scariest ring introduction in all of boxing history as a professional also a perfect record 35 fights 35 victories including 32 wins by knockout including 22 consecutive KO's and he has KO'D every opponent he's faced over the last 8 years This olympic medalist from Karaganda, Kazakhstan is the reigning, defending undefeated universally recognized true Middleweight Champion of the World Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin AKA GGG in recent times Central Asia has become the home of some of combat sports greatest athletes the often harsh conditions and poor quality of life has led many young men into a life of commitment to martial arts more recently Artur Beterbiev of Dagestan and Israil Madrimov of Uzbekistan but perhaps the most infamous of them all was a man from the heart of Kazakhstan a country known for its historic architecture, large Muslim population and complex history regarding ties with the Soviet Union the city of Karaganda in particular is famous for its deep history within the mines look a little bit closer at what they call the Miners Palace of Culture at its peak etched in stone 6 miners immortalised in what can only be acknowledged as an appreciation for the culture people that without a doubt have faced their fair share of troubles and have to be strong and resilient in the face of adversity they are a fighting people and no stranger to war Golovkin is born in Karaganda Kazakhstan in 1982 to a coal mining family one of four brothers and a twin to Maxim Golovkin Gennady recalls being close with his brothers as they'd all play on the streets together Gennady was always big into sports first playing basketball and soccer just you know big interest for small child but the sport of boxing in particular became a big part of his life as his older brothers would force him to watch the biggest fights in boxing. I remember I watch TV my brother like in boxing my older brother we were watching TV, every time Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali Sugar Ray Robinson, Ray Leonard Marvin Hagler just you know a lot of great names in 1990, when Gennady was 8 years old he would lose one of his older brothers killed in action serving in the Russian military and then just four years later Gennady would lose his other older brother once again killed in action serving in the Russian military at this point Gennady and his twin brother Maxim had both began training boxing both of them saw great success in the Russian Amateur boxing scene however the boxing legacy of the Golovkin family would have to be carried out by just one of the two remaining brothers why doesn't the brother keep fighting? it was decided when- Gennady is the oldest by 15 minutes it was decided when he wanted to turn pro that one of them would stay back and take care of the family so it was decided because the other two brothers died in the war the older brothers so it was decided that because because Gennady was older he was chosen to be.
. . Golovkin would make the most of this opportunity and go on to compete in the 2004 Athens Olympics where he put his talent on display for the world to see and would go on to win a silver medal in 2006 GGG would make his pro debut and in 2010 after joining forces with highly regarded boxing coach Abel Sanchez GGG would obliterate and knockout Milton Nunez in just 58 seconds winning his first title in what was surely a sign of good things to come in 2012 after fighting most of his pro career in Germany GGG would finally get the opportunity to make a name for himself an opportunity to fight on HBO in front of an American audience it's not gonna be like the first fight wondering who might be winning on points maybe a punch here or there Golovkin comes to knock you out in his HBO debut GGG would put the entire middleweight division on notice breaking down a tough fighter in Proska it's the combination of the heavy heads with the technique and finishing him in the fifth round how tough is Proska the referee stops it no match for Gennady Golovkin first fight here in America how do you feel after this kind of a performance?
this is my dream Fighting on HBO and America I'm happy I'm happy now it might be difficult for you to get guys to get in the ring with you right now you told me yesterday that you'd fight anyone from 154 to 168 pounds seriously it doesn't matter who next you know I'm ready I'm stay here I'm in America you know in a lot of ways when you talk to him he's kind of an old soul but when he puts those gloves on he's a lion and tonight he had a chance to achieve a dream to fight in the United States GGG became a force to be reckoned with in the middleweight division believe me folks this being my 936th world title fight I've seen a lot of cuts and I haven't seen any any worse than this one Chino I gotta stop it man. Chino I gotta stop it your sons gonna die man. and that's it the fight is all over they've stopped the fight what happened was the corner stopped the fight and stories began emerging from his sparring partners which just further added to the aura of GGG walk into his gym it's like 200 degrees in there they got these big like fire furnace things on they're like Gennady likes to train with the heat on I was like of course he does like ha ha Gennady likes to do four minute rounds of course he does, is that OK with you?
of course it's OK with me man I ain't show no weakness, I'm thinking f*cking hell four minute rounds it's so hard to breathe at Big Bear you're 10,000 feet above sea level they're like so Gennady wears this um this body protector and it protects your ribs and they said do you want one? I was like no I'm not a fanny, are you sure? cause um?
Gennady wears one I was like nah it'll get in the way Gennady is brilliant like he's just like he got that phenomenal power it must all come from his lats or something big whip and I just hear this crack I was like mmm that's uh that's my rib that feels a little bit broken GGG very quickly became one of the biggest names in boxing he's overrated ain't nobody scared of him he's a hype job who has he fought? come Saturday I'm gonna f*ck Gennady up I have just one question Hey man are you serious right now? knocking out one opponent after the other he punched so hard man he punched through the headgear man he has freakishly unreal power you can't even implement your game plan because he hit so hard it was the consistency of it you know what I mean every punch his power didn't dwindle his jabs.
. . felt like you'd been hit with a right hand like dude it literally feel like he has something in his glove even like sparring partners they're like bro like we blocking but we got bruises all on our arms the next day I guess he just got dense bones or something he sparring with bigger guys he's still hurting them yeah it hurts it hurts every punch he throws is a hard shot even the jab abel likes him sparring with big guys that's why we down here I fight at 75 he fights at 68 he likes him sparring with big guys smaller guys can't handle his punching power they can't nah GGG was always happy and smiling when around the media but in the ring he was almost a completely different person important like beat him you know like.
. . punish him?
punish him yeah beat him beat him beat him you want Street Fight? let's go I show you right now we have time we have 12 round I show every round every man he faced off in the ring with would eventually wilt to his relentless pressure style and power in eight years between 2008 and 2016 GGG would win 23 fights all 23 of those fights by knockout he would quickly find himself a victim of his own success. February 1st you're fighting yet another opponent that's tough but not well known top five middleweights don't seem to give you much competition top 10 middleweights seem to offer almost no resistance at all GGG was struggling to get a fight with the top names in the spot I'm still Max I'm still champion just of course I need big name or big fight but whenever his name was brought up it was almost always met with uncertainty Gennady Golovkin is sitting here ringside do you have interest in that fight?
after all it's boxing why risk your perfect record and all your belts? when your promoter will offer you lucrative amounts of money to fight lower competition it's for this same reason that we see fighters who could potentially be the best in their division but the names on their record leave room to be desired in the case of Golovkin it was difficult to find an opponent who was willing to risk not only their belts but perhaps their dignity as a fight with Golovkin almost always promised a brutal end but there was one man willing to take that risk in 2005 in Guadalajara, Mexico at the age of 15 he turned professional six years later he won his first world title here is boxing's biggest attraction the pound for Pound King is there anything that scares you Canelo Alvarez, what frightens you? ha ha ha nothing about boxing this is what I love the fight was on the two best fighters in the division GGG vs Canelo regarded by many to be the fight of the decade and it was already splitting the boxing community tough one to call 50/50?
I think Canelo beats GGG Canelo's a very slick counter puncher and GGG is not particularly fast GGG really never seen Canelo actually get hit and that's a big test for him GGG is gonna knock the sh*t out of Canelo I know about them Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russian fighters man Canelo don't want none of that I know boxing. this is what I do Canelo knocks GGG out GGG was coming into the fight as a slight favourite and the Kazakhstan fighter was promising to bring an entertaining fight to fans claiming that he would go toe to toe with Canelo in what can only be described as the Mexican style I love fight I'm fighter. you know this Mexican style.
. . this is my style you know because a lot of drama a lot of big show, this is big present for fans for everybody you know this is Mexican style and with GGG's skillset which included a phenomenal power jab that he would use to stun his opponents, his titanium chin which could stand up to the most powerful blows alongside his impressive cardio and unbreakable will which saw him walk down each and every one of his opponents until they quit, top that off with his intelligence for the fight game and his dedication to training although Golovkin may have been of Kazakhstan heritage he shared an uncanny resemblance to the Mexican fighters of old.
Canelo. . .
what about you? for so long now you've been criticized for not fighting GGG as though you would duck a fighter when you were telling everyone all along your promoter said "this is the way the business needs to get done" now that you're going to fight GGG what would you like to say to your fans? I've never feared anyone.
when I was born, fear was gone. Canelo would start the fight strong using his movement to avoid being cornered by GGG however after a few rounds Canelo would find himself on the back foot and often on the ropes where GGG would unload and land combinations although Canelo would start each round strong his activity would slow down considerably after the first minute and GGG would take over landing at a much higher output and so was the story of the fight GGG walking down Canelo and it was only in the last couple rounds where Canelo would start to find his rhythm again but at that point it was too late we go to the scorecards after 12 rounds of boxing Adalaide Byrd scores it: 118-110 for canelo Dave Moretti scores it: 115-113 for GGG and don trella scores it: 114-114 this is officially a draw a draw almost always gets booed it shouldn't be that way but it is disappointing on both sides there is no way you can watch this fight and see 10 rounds for Canelo Alvarez that scorecard submitted by Adalaide Byrd is one of the biggest embarrassments that I've seen I had it 115-113 for GGG but the reality of the situation is that this has been tarnished by a judge that clearly had no business judging the fight they didn't know what the hell they were watching they weren't watching a boxing match tonight that everybody else millions on pay per view and thousands in attendance were watching 118-110 for Canelo officially a draw there's money to be made in the casino business but there is an oversight board to make sure there's no corruption there's no oversight board in boxing she'll be working again she'll be working again the two would face off a year later with tensions at an all time high however this time the fight would play out differently with Canelo opting to go toe to toe with GGG giving fans the Mexican style that was promised in the first fight and creating a back and forth battle where both fighters were constantly having to make adjustments to out skill, out maneuver and out think the other contrary to the first fight it was GGG who would this time rally late effectively landing his jab on Canelo who continued to press forward whilst trying to land big counter shots the fight lived up to the hype and was certainly more action packed than the first here are the judges scoring totals: Glenn Feldman scores this bout: even 114-114 Judge Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld have it: 115-113 you're winner by majority decision: and new WBC wba IBO Ring Magazine Middleweight Champion of the world Saul Canelo Alvarez as Canelo stood there with his hand raised you almost got the sense he was relieved that his rivalry with Golovkin may have came to an end. .
. if you really boxing fan you know who is the real champion four years later after continued success in their divisions they have stopped the fight it is over the pound for pound king with another win GGG and Canelo would meet one last time to put an end to their legendary rivalry but GGG's age was beginning to show as the fight proved to not be nearly as competitive as the first two AND STILL Canelo Alvarez and as I'm recording this video in December of 2024 GGG's loss to Canelo is the last fight on his record but true fans of boxing don't remember GGG solely based on the outcomes of his fights with Canelo but rather he's remembered for being a feared man in the middleweight division a boogeyman of sorts with a knockout ratio of 88. 1% the highest in middleweight championship history a family man outside the ring but once the glvoes were laced up a pure sight of terror perhaps the only true successor to the tough and unbreakable Marvelous Marvin Hagler who ruled the same division in a similar terrifying fashion in the 1980s and a true throwback to the boxing greats of old.
