Gennady Golovkin's Blueprint to Become Boxing's Biggest Superstar
Unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin was sensational in his first appearance on HBO pay-per-view Saturday. Golovkin dominated and stopped IBF middleweight titlist David Lemieux to stake his claim to being the best middleweight in the world.
But also laying before Golovkin is a legitimate chance to become boxing's next big superstar. Already 33 years old, Golovkin has less time to make that happen than most other fighters seeking the very same stature. But with an avalanche of fan support and the HBO boxing hype machine firmly behind him and his team, Golovkin has as good—or better—of a chance of getting there as anyone.
Here is Golovkin's blueprint for superstardom.
Stay Active
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Golovkin has fought 10 times over the last three years, something most fighters of his stature stop doing once a cable giant like HBO starts paying big money for them to perform. But Golovkin's busy schedule is the primary reason for his ascension to the stardom he currently enjoys and could also be what helps turn him into the sport's biggest superstar.
Where recent superstars such as Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao limited themselves to two fights or less over the last few years, Golovkin should buck the trend and keep fighting as often as possible. Not only does his high level of activity keep him in eye of the media, but it also allows more people to witness his fan-friendly style.
Golovkin's style is the kind just about any boxing fan would like. And when mainstream sports fans think of the sweet science, they have in mind more of what Golovkin does than Mayweather. The more people who see Golovkin fight, the better it will be for his career.
Keep Knocking People out
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Golovkin has won 21 straight fights by knockout. While long streaks like that aren't super rare in boxing, it is fairly uncommon to see a fighter do such at this late point in his career. There are two contributing factors to Golovkin's impressive accomplishment.
First, Golovkin is just that good. He's a hard puncher who is as good a boxer as he is at knocking people out. It's one thing to have knockout power. It's quite another to have enough skill to employ it. Golovkin is one of the best pressure fighters in the sport. He has a pulverizing jab, and he's the kind of fighter who is always gunning for the stoppage.
The other factor has probably been Golovkin's level of opposition. While he's faced and defeated many good contenders, none of them have really been all that elite. Still, if Golovkin is to stay in the hearts and minds of boxing fans, he needs to keep knocking out the kinds of fighters he's been in the ring with until he can lure big names into the fold.
Boxing fans love knockouts.
Aim High at Middleweight
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Golovkin has defended his WBA middleweight title 15 times already. The 160-pound record is 20 defenses set by Bernard Hopkins 10 years ago. While fans are anxious to see Golovkin move up in weight to challenge 168- and 175-pound fighters, there's too much left undone at middleweight for him to leave just yet.
Golovkin's path to superstardom includes him cleaning out the middleweight division. He's halfway there to this point. A bout against WBO champion Andy Lee and the winner of November's Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez fight would net him all four alphabet belts at middleweight as well as the lineal championship currently held by Cotto.
And once he's unified all the belts, he'd be so close to at least tying Hopkins' record for most title defenses that it'd make sense for Team Golovkin to stick things out at 160 until he can do it. It might take some inventive matchmaking, but a Golovkin who's defeated either Cotto or Alvarez at that point would be able to fight just about whomever he wants with minimal blowback.
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Make Superfights Above 160 Pounds
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Realistically, there are no middleweights right now who would be favored over Golovkin. He's just too good and too powerful. But two opponents above 160 would give him the biggest challenge of his career and earn him a tremendous amount of respect among fight fans.
Golovkin isn't that big of a middleweight. Against former 154-pounder Lemieux on Saturday, he appeared to be similar in size and stature. But a fighter as good as Golovkin simply has to move up in weight to find challenges in other divisions or risk being lambasted by fans and media.
Bouts against Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev are potential superfights that could solidify Golovkin as one of the best fighters ever in any weight class. If he was favored in either fight—and it's doubtful he would be—the margin would be very slim. Ward might be the most complete fighter in boxing, and Kovalev is a bigger and more accomplished version of Golovkin.
Fighters are not judged by the number of wins they have in their career. They are judged by who they fight and who they beat. It's why most historians rate Ray Leonard over Floyd Mayweather Jr. and is why Golovkin would need to find tough fights, too.
If Golovkin is to maximize his potential, he must someday brave deeper waters than middleweight.
Stay Himself
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People just seem to love Golovkin. While he's a killer when the bell rings, he's maybe the nicest human being on the planet otherwise. He has a bright smile. He's thoughtful and funny, and his broken English only seems to endear people to him more.
Fighters can change over the course of their careers. Before Mayweather faced Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, he was a completely different person. He wasn't committed to the villain role he honed for that fight and others after it precisely because Mayweather doesn't see himself as all that villainous. Without getting into his legal problems outside the ring, the Mayweather most have seen in recent years in front of the camera isn't the Mayweather people knew before the De La Hoya fight.
As an example, there were thousands of fight fans lined up to visit him at every stop of the multicity press tour for De La Hoya-Mayweather. While the other principles there greeted fans and signed autographs as if it were a duty, Mayweather, at least in Houston where I saw him, was genuinely interested in making every single person who was there smile. In fact, when one of the promoters for the fight yelled to Mayweather to leave or risk missing his plane, he shouted back at them he would just miss it. And he did.
Golovkin doesn't need to change himself to make more money. His personality is what draws people to him. He's already immensely popular for who he is and how he fights. Golovkin should just keep being Golovkin.
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