WBA Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (24-0, 21) has been the talk of the hardcore boxing community for the past few years, though it wasn't until his US debut late last year (TKO5 Grzegorz Proksa) that the wider boxing public first became conscious of him. The Kazakh will look to build on his US debut when he returns to the ring this coming weekend to take on Philadelphia native Gabriel Rosado (21-5, 13) again in the US.
Golovkin first made his name in the amateurs where he was a genuine beast. Not only did he win numerous tournaments but he also beat notable names, including Daniel Geale (current IBF Middleweight champion), Lucien Bute (former IBF Super Middleweight champion), Andy Lee (former WBC Middleweight title contender) and Andre Dirrell (former WBC Super Middleweight title contender). A resume that would make any current professional proud.
Sadly for Golovkin his professional career was rather slow to get going and despite being a professional since 2006 his competition has been incredibly limited with the best names on his record currently being Kassim Ouma (former IBF Light Middleweight champion) and the aforementioned Proksa (former 2-time European Middleweight champion). Instead of fighting fellow top contenders he has instead been fighting the likes of Nilson Julio Tapia, Makoto Fuchigami and Lajuan Simon, with the claims that the top guys were avoiding him.
When it comes to reason to fear Golovkin there is plenty. He is not only supremely talented (and confident in his own skill), but he combines truly explosive power that hurts every time he lands, with genuine toughness, and the ability to crack to both the head and body. The key however to Golovkin is almost certainly his boxing brain which sees him able to cut the ring off with surprising ease. slow fighters down then land perfect shots in the blink of an eye.
Whilst Golovkin's opponent, Gabriel Rosado, may not be one of the big names of the Middleweight division that Golovkin would wish to fight (Peter Quillin, Sergio Martinez, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr or Daniel Geale) he is still a known fighter, especially in the US where he has started to build a genuine fan base in recent years.
Despite Rosado's record featuring numerous losses he has shown that he's developed into a very solid fighter (much like Carson Jones has) in recent years and scored notable wins over the likes of Sechew Powell, Jesus Soto Karass and Charles Whittaker putting him on a 7 fight unbeaten streak. Worryingly however these victories have all come at Light Middleweight and not at Middleweight where he may find his shots don't have the same effect on opponents. In fact, interestingly, Rosado's last loss actually came last time he fought at Middleweight (losing a majority decision to Derek Ennis).
Unlike Golovkin Rosado hasn't always looked durable, in fact going back to 2009, the last time Rosado faced a genuinely monstrous puncher, he was destroyed in just 2 rounds by Alfredo Angulo. Since then however he's looked generally tougher, both mentally and physically. In fact if anything the 27 year old has taken that loss and helped to really move on with his career with 9 wins and 1 losses (the one to Ennis) since then).
Rosado at his very best is an aggressive minded fighter who hits harder than his record shows, showing that again he has developed his power and technique well in recent years (having stopped 5 of his last 7 opponents compared to just 8 of his first 19). He can go to the body and the head and often seems to just grind opponents down (with his last two stoppages coming in rounds 9 and 10). Sadly however trying to grind down Golovkin will likely be a futile task as the champion is very tough and often appears happy to take one to land one, knowing he has the edge in power.
Unless Rosado, the taller, rangier man, can use his style and boxing ability here I can't see him lasting more than 4 rounds. Golovkin will take the opening round trying to figure out the speed and power of the challenger before starting to open up in round 2 then go for the kill in rounds 3 and 4. Don't expect this to be dull, but expect it to be a little bit of a beat down come the end.
Prediction-Golovkin TKO3
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