By Ian S palmer
This Saturday evening June 29, undefeated WBA Middleweight Titleholder Gennady Golovkin will be taking on the toughest challenge of his career so far in the form of England’s Matthew Macklin. The 12-round bout will take place at the MGM Grand in Connecticut’s Foxwoods Resort.
Golovkin, one of the best knockout artists in history, will take a 26-0 record with him into the ring along with 23 Kos. His last two bouts were knockout wins over Nobuhiro Ishida and Gabriel Rosado. Golovkin, who hails from Kazakhstan, won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games and has been on a roll ever since turning pro shortly after. He has tremendous power in his fists and is among the best pound-for-pound boxers on the planet.
The 31-year-old Macklin hails from Britain’s second-largest city Birmingham and he’ll enter the ring with a record of 29-4 along with 20 Kos. Macklin formerly held the British and European Middleweight crowns and took on Sergio Martinez of Argentina for the WBC belt last year, but was stopped in the 11th round. He also lost a title fight to Felix Sturm in the champion’s homeland of Germany in what many feel was a hometown decision for Sturm.
Macklin’s other two losses came earlier in his career prior to 2007. This is Macklin’s third crack at a world title and he’s taking on the hardest-hitting champion of all three in Golovkin. Macklin feels he’s improved greatly since his other two title shots and is ready to upset the champion by being aggressive and busy.
Golovkin’s more than just a lure slugger though as he proved at the Olympics that he can box as well. He’s got faster hands than the challenger and hits quite a bit harder. However, Macklin possesses some pretty good power of his own. Macklin has actually fought the tougher opponents throughout his career when you consider he’s taken on Martinez and Sturm and he gets the nod in experience.
Golovkin has a better defence, but he doesn’t throw as many punches as Macklin, however he’s a lot more accurate with them than the Briton. Macklin has a decent chin even though Martinez stopped him. Golovkin hasn’t really been tested as of yet and it’s going to be interesting to see how well he can stand up to Macklin’s clean power shots. They’re both aggressive boxers so their styles should produce an exciting match for the fans.
Golovkin likes to use his jab and along with his straight right hand and combines his offence with a shoulder roll defence, making him hard to hit. His knockout percentage stands at 88 and he’s won 13 consecutive bouts by stoppage. Macklin will have to keep as busy as possible to stop the champion from unloading on him.
To win this fight and the title, Macklin has to keep Golovkin on the back foot by throwing punches for all three minutes of the round. If Golovkin’s thinking about defence he’s not going to have the chance to unload much. However, Macklin can’t stand still and trade blows with the champion. He needs to move in and land his shots and move out of harm’s way. This is going to be hard to do for 12 rounds though and sooner or later they’re going to trade shots and this will lead to a Golovkin victory by stoppage in the second half of the bout.
