Saturday night at The Theater in New York?s Madison Square Garden, Gennady Golovkin (27-0, 24 KOs), the hard hitting sensation from Stuttgart, Germany, by way of Karaganda, Kazakhstan, defends his WBA middleweight title against Brownsville?s own Curtis Stevens (25-3, 18 KOs) in a 12-round fight that will not go the distance.
Golovkin?s success, which is growing by the day, is coming late in his career. Although he is undefeated, Triple-G is 31 years old and his opposition has left something to be desired. But with an 89% knockout rate, the highest of any champion fighting today, and having iced his last 14 opponents, Golovkin gives fans exactly what they want. And with HBO?s support this appears to be his time.
But Gennady Golovkin has not ?taken America by storm,? despite what you may have read. Joe Blow on the Main Street is no more aware of Gennady Golovkin than he is aware of Wladimir Klitschko. That?s not Golovkin?s fault. It?s just reality, and that reality is unlikely to change this weekend, even if he starches the tough but there-to be-starched slugger, Curtis Stevens.
To his credit, Stevens stepped up to the plate when others did not. The 28-year-old called out Golovkin, repeatedly, until people began taking him seriously. But despite hailing from the same neighborhood as former champions Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe, Stevens is taking a big step up in competition. His recent win streak against so-so competition doesn?t suggest that he?s going to ?decapitate [Golovkin?s] ass,? as Stevens insists. But who knows? If boxing is, as advertized, the ?theater of the unexpected,? maybe, just maybe, it?s as the old saying goes: Kill the ass and the head will follow.
If Stevens fails to ?decapitate [Golovkin?s] ass,? as most expect, The Kazakh Killer will have earned another notch on his holster and we can expect bigger and better things from him down the line. A fight with WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez is a possibility. But why would Maravilla fight Golovkin when Miguel Cotto, who has never fought at middleweight, will do just fine? Golovkin might move down to fight Floyd Mayweather at a catchweight, which seems equally unlikely given the two fighters? network alliances. Or Golovkin, who looks like a natural junior middle, can move up to super middleweight and take on IBF champion Carl Froch or WBC champion Andre Ward.
Whatever lies in store for Gennady Golovkin, it all depends upon what happens Saturday night. The fists will fly at the MSG Theater. That?s a certainty. And if history is any guide, GGG will have his hand raised in victory before the sixth round, as Curtis Stevens, however gallant in defeat, lies sprawled on the canvas before him.
