I agree, Marquez has declined more as far as speed and reflexes following each of the Pacquiao fights than Pacquiao himself. Its irrelevant in this discussion though. The point I was trying to make is that Pacquiao stepping up in class had him looking less than a destroyer, the fingerpointing then became that it was he (Pacquiao) that was declining when in fact it had nothing to do with decline and all to do with the fighter he was facing. The same applies with Golovkin. There were plenty of fighters and trainers going into the Jacobs fight that sensed a possible upset. It had nothing to do with Golovkin declining and everything to do with the fact that Golovkin was about to step up in competition. From 30 to 35, the speed and reflexes are not going to be as sharp, that's a given, but to assume that had the fight been made two years ago Golovkin would destroy Canelo like the rest of the C level class he's been facing is just laughable.
True! In Brook, one could sense right away Golovkin was in with a different class level than what he'd been facing The difference with Brook and Canelo was that Golovkins' punches had less of an effect on a fighter his own natural size than on Brook who was clearly the smaller fighter and could not afford to take many of Golovkin's heavier shots. Canelo could take Golovkin's shots where Brook clearly couldn't. Brook didn't belong at 160 lbs fighting Golovkin, its that simple.
Geale and Lemieux were both champions. Murray arguably beat Sturm and Martinez. He's fought legitimate and proven guys already.
I suggest you watch GGG when he was 32-33. He was much faster and more active. Canelo waited for GGG to age to roll the dice, and they were loaded by two bad judges. GGG won the fight 8-4 or 7-4-1 in my book. While it true his competition has been better lately, its also true he has slowed down.
Have to agree with this. When he was younger he was also more creative as a fighter. He seems to be more one-dimensional these days. Although, to be fair, it's easier strutting your stuff against Milton Nunez than Danny Jacobs. I really hope he digs Canelo to the body in the rematch.
Could be a combination of decline & better competition but for me, if we see Golovkin fights someone (other than a Jacobs or Canelo) like a regular top 10-15 middleweight and struggles, then I'll say he's on the definite decline.
All areas are effected with him.IQ, speed, skills....He don't shake off shots either like he used to. Imo he's a tired version of himself. Big money fights are happening for him now he's past prime. I think if he goes the body IF there's a rematch, then I think the fights harder for him, unlike some on here. He's not pulling the trigger quick enough mid range against a fast hard counter puncher at this stage, and if he goes the body, I think Canelo might hurt him worse than vice versa.
Yes he is declining but right now he is still the king of the division and hasn't declined enough to be toppled just yet.
in terms of champions yes ,Lemiuex was. Geale wasnt, 1G was facing 3G for the vacant belt. In terms of legits, I would be happy to include every recognised title defence (ie everything after 1G), with the exceptions perhaps of Wade and Jnr. Rubio maybe considered weak, I'd say he was an ok opponent. Theres more legit than you think, 3G is an elite.
Remember how Hopkins looked super fast and 20 years old against Pavlik yet looked slow and old against Calzaghe?. Only difference here is that Pavlik isn't a tomato can like 99% of Golovkin's opponents. Lets be real here, Golovkin has been exploding into arenas as a 1/100 favorite against the bums he was impressing people like you against. It was a given he won't look as impressive as he always did in this one considering Alvarez isn't an all-out carefully selected tomato can like the rest of his opponents. Hell even Mike Tyson wasn't a 1/100 favorite over Douglas...
Sturm and Martinez?. Wasn't Martinez half crippled at that point?, and Sturm!?, seriously?. Look man, you can claim he has an ATG resume all you want, that's your prerogative. I have eyes and brains to clearly see that this man has been doing nothing but impressing clueless people that don't even know what 1/100 odds means by feasting on bums. It's really no surprise that his hilarious fan base went far enough to claim he's KOing Heavyweights in sparring.
It was a courageous move to Brook's credit, but a really dumb move from his management. For Golovkin though, Welterweight Brook was a massive step-up from the chain of bums he was feasting on.