Gennady Golovkin Must Challenge an Elite Fighter After Win vs. Martin Murray

It lasted awhile longer. But it didn’t look a lot different.

In fact, other than Gennady Golovkin smelling the rarified air of the 11th round for the first time in a now-nine-year, 32-fight career, there wasn’t much to distinguish his Saturday afternoon destruction of a ridiculously game—but obviously outgunned—Martin Murray from many of the first 31.

He came forward with violent persistence. He landed volleys of shots to precise spots on Murray’s gradually reddening face and torso. And by the time it was over, the latest in a line of middleweights dubbed “the best Golovkin has ever been in with” was equally incapable of providing a real push.

Of course, that’s not at all Golovkin’s fault.

And he once again earned the volumes of post-fight praise he received.

HBO’s Jim Lampley and Roy Jones Jr. likened him to a young Mike Tyson, and Max Kellerman gushed over the “indelible moments” he’s provided during the 29 months since his premium cable debut.

But while it’s indeed been viscerally intoxicating to watch the nearly flawless manner in which he’s cleaned out the C and B neighborhoods of the 160-pound subdivision, it’s time to get a new place.

Regardless of where he has to move to seal the deal.

As Mssrs. Lampley, Jones and Kellerman repeatedly pointed out during Saturday’s savagery, the tea leaves indicate it would take a discernible show of vulnerability to prompt any of the high-profile fighters whom Team Golovkin has been pursuing—specifically, WBC champ Miguel Cotto—to face him.

Problem is, if Cotto was unwilling to throw down with the guy on Friday, there’s roughly zero chance he’d change his mind by Sunday after watching a bigger, stronger and younger stand-in manage to win all of a round or two while falling three times and having his nose redone with gushing red highlights.

The Puerto Rican is 34, carries belts from four weight classes and has a zealous fanbase that’ll happily fill Madison Square Garden to see him meet any 10 guys without the Kazakh’s penchant for brutality.

At this stage of his career, he doesn’t need the aggravation. Via HBO Boxing, Golovkin shared his main goal at this point of his boxing career—"all the belts":

But even if the WBC mandates the fight—it bought into the GGG brand after awarding Golovkin a bogus “interim” championship belt last October—it seems more likely Team Cotto would explore off-ramps toward safer destinations named “Canelo” and “Money” than risk a full-on facial realignment.

And if Golovkin gets the full-fledged title in that manner, he’s really gained no high-end ground.

Instead, in order to get what he really wants, he may have to go the Manny Pacquiao route.

The Filipino superstar assembled a fanbase and built a reputation for several years while at least publicly pursuing a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., but he didn’t ultimately get what he was after until his frequent call-outs were met with back-room subservience at the negotiating table.

Though he’s headed for Canastota five years after quitting and has a weight-class resume with bullet points from 112 to 154, Pacquiao still had to cede the A-side high ground to Mayweather and agree to take the short end of a 40-60 financial split in order to finally get his man in a roped ring.

Golovkin, even with 19 straight KOs, passion from HBO and a title reign that many feel is the most legitimate—if not the most lineal—at 160 pounds, may have to take the same tack to earn his spotlight.

If he truly wants to share a marquee with a star-level commodity such as Alvarez, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. or even Andre Ward, he and his handlers are going to need to make the prospect so financially appealing to the quarry in question that even the prospect of physical damage takes a distant back seat.

That means 40-60, 30-70 or even 20-80 when it comes to cash and whatever else is necessary when it comes to site, gloves, ring size and trunk color, so long as the sacrifice yields a signed contract. 

After all, you can’t win the big fight unless you get the big fight.

And as "Pac-Man" would be quick to point out, sometimes glove just ain’t enough.