By Ian S Palmer
The IBO and WBA Super World Middleweight Championships will be on the line this Saturday, May 16 when undefeated titleholder Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan takes on American Willie Monroe Jr. at the Forum in Inglewood, California. The 12-round bout can be seen live in Canada and the U.S. on HBO while British fans can catch all of the live action on BoxNation. The fight is also scheduled for the WBC interim middleweight crown.
The 33-year-old Golovkin will climb through the ring ropes with a perfect record of 32-0 with 29 big Kos. Golovkin last fought less than 12 weeks ago in Monaco when he stopped Britain’s Martin Murray and it’s not unusual to see him back in the ting again shortly after. Golovkin likes to stay active and is hoping to one day be matched up against one of boxing’s stars in a big-money showdown. He definitely doesn’t shy away from anybody, but up to now he hasn’t really faced an elite Grade A middleweight opponent.
Golovkin used to fight out of Germany, but he spends most of his time in the U. S. these days and has already gathered a huge following of American fans due to his hard-hitting and exciting style. Golovkin will be taking on the 28-year-old Monroe of Rochester, New York, who is the current WBA NABA and WBO NABO Middleweight Champion. Monroe is a southpaw who owns a 19-1 record with 6 Kos to his name. The first thing fans will notice is the disparity of Kos on each boxer’s record.
Monroe has just half a dozen of them in his 20 fights while Golovkin has stopped 29 of his 32 opponents. There seems to be a huge difference in power here and that will likely be the deciding factor of this bout. Monroe possesses some fine boxing skills though and has beaten the likes of Brandon Adams, Brian Vera and Vitaliy Kopylenko. His only loss came at the hands of Darnell Boone by way of a six-round split decision back in 2011.
The world champion stands just over 5-feet-10-inches tall with a 70-inch reach while Monroe is half an inch shorter, but has a 74-inch reach. He turned pro back in 2008 and has boxed 112 rounds since then. Golovkin turned pro back in 2006 after an excellent amateur career and has fought 140 rounds up to now with his biggest wins coming against Curtis Stevens, Marco Antonio Rubio, Daniel Geale, Gabriel Rosado, Martin Murray, and Macklin. He owns a knockout percentage of 90.63 while Monroe’s is 30 per cent.
Prediction
Monroe is definitely going into this fight as the heavy underdog and it’s easy to see why. He can’t afford to slug it out with Golovkin and will have to outbox him. However, he doesn’t have the power to keep the hard-hitting champion off of him. Golovkin will gladly take Monroe’s shots while working his way in and digging to the American’s head and body. If Monroe has a solid chin he’ll lose a decision, but if he doesn’t, look for him to be stopped along the way.
