GGG has peaked and possibly started slipping, but his competition has increased too. Seriously, he's beaten Danny Jacobs and arguably done enough to beat Canelo Alvarez - he was touted to be the best in the division, and his detractors said for ages that he'll get found out and beaten once he gets to the elite of it. He's faced and run out of elite in the evening of his career and still has no losses, one way or another the hype has been earned.
Way back when Pacquiao rematched Marquez at 130 lbs, off that Marquez rematch Pacquiao fans were saying Pacquiao was in decline. I mean Pacquiao coming off twice stopping Morales and winning almost every round vs MAB, Marquez schools him and all of a sudden fingers are pointing Pacquiao is declining. ......mind you, all this before Pacquiao toys with the likes of DLH, Hatton, Cotto, and then Margarito. When its time for Pacquiao to matchup with Marquez again, right after that 3rd fight the finger pointing is, "Pacquiao isn't 100% focused on boxing anymore, he's in decline." Funny how when a fighter faces a superior fighter and doesn't look like he did vs lesser fighters, its all about being in decline. LOL!
I have noticed that fighters DDD has fought since the Kell Brook fight (i.e., Canelo and Jacobs), fighters are more inclined to run from GGG and hence, they are much harder for GGG to knock out. Now, if Canelo and Jacobs would stand and fight,then GGG could KO them, but if they keep running all around the ring, then it will be tough, if not impossible, to ko them. And seriously, I don't know what great things it says about Canelo or Jacobs that they around the ring during the entire course of a fight and not get ko'd. What...this somehow makes them elite fighters? Seriously....what is so elite about running?
Don't tell me, you're 12 and been a boxing fan since you were 11. Don't be so puzzled kid, in a few more years all the pieces will come together and you'll see the big picture!
Mix of the last two. You can see he is slightly slower and lacks the explosiveness he once had. But he's a pressure fighter in his 30's who also takes part in VADA testing, so what do you expect really. That's why it's annoying we couldn't have had the Canelo fight a couple of years ago say, but then I guess Canelo wasn't in a physical prime for 160 either. Let's just enjoy the fun fights we've got from him and the handful left to come. Let's also remember to respect box.
Mixture of the last two. Canelo was flat-out better than I thought he'd be and so was Jacobs. You can see that these guys are prime, very good boxers and put in performances of their lifetimes. I think once GGG retires Jacobs will own 160 like a hoe, assuming he can still make the weight. But Golovkin has slowed down, it's indisputable. Just look at his earlier fights and then at now. On the plus side he may be stronger and more durable than ever.
anyway, hard to say. it seems he is slipping at exactly the same moment he is stepping up in competition. I hope its just a short term thing myself.
GGG has obviously declined from his absolute peak (he peaked from age 26 through 30) that was his absolute best, and that fighter was the best MW I've ever seen. He was actually a better far more rounded fighter pre Able. He let nasty combos go every round ALL round. He was no where close to in love with his power, he used so much more speed and his timing was impeccable. Able somehow brainwashed him into believing power trumps all, it does NOT. He loads up too much since Sanchez had a couple years with him. He's always been a truly great fighter, even when it was all about landing that power. Still a great, very difficult fighter for anyone at the age of 36. No fighter with 400 career fights wouldn't had declined some by 36. He's still operating at an ELITE level but not what he once was. Drawing with canelo (means he clearly won) is a great accomplishment. Canelo is disgustingly under rated on this board. Very few could fight him truly competitively, atm. He's a beast too. GGG v Canelo 2 is going to be great, even greater than fight 1. By far i believe
Good post. To be fair there were a lot of question marks around Canelo going into the fight. I don't feel the Chavez fight proved anything. But he fought a very good fight against GGG and I feel he proved he belongs at 160 amongst the best.