I am amazed out how Golovkin can be such a force at 36 years old

I agree not necessarily normal. But there are KO artists below 175 doing at the high levels. Lucas M. Comes to mind. As well as Golovkin, Gomez, Pacquiao at the lower weights.

So even though I'd actually agree with you that a genuine KO artist is rare below 175, some do exist. But like you said definitely not normal.

At HW it seems like power can make up for more deficiencies. Hell even at LHW. Kovalev for example got robbed and actually beat Ward at 175. This is despite the fact that Ward literally does everything better in boxing than Kovalev does except punch hard.

It probably has to do with the size of these guys. At LHW and above you're taking about guys who walk around in shape at 190 plus pounds. That's a big ass guy to be bashing you upside the head.

 

Good post.

My point is simply at weights below LHW it seems that most of the best KO artists (even the ones you mention) sometimes fail to knock out other elite fighters. It doesn't mean they're not genuine KO artists, it's just what happens when the best fight each other.

 

So was Pacman.

 

If you think he’s an ATG, you’re simply a dumb fanboy with double standards. All I’m pointing out.

 

The commonly held wisdom is that defensive fighters like Mayweather and Pep get hit less. Therefore they have less wear and tear on their bodies. But I'd like to float a hypothesis that says aggressive fighters actually get hit less. Consider, Mike Tyson with his 76% KO rating closed the show early and often didn't have to fight and get hit in later rounds. In 58 fights he only boxed 215 rounds. Pernell Whitaker who's career overlaps with Mike's fought only 46 bouts but they were over 379 rounds. His fights are lasting twice as long as Mike's. Whitaker would have to get hit half as much as Tyson to come out even with him.

Let's make another comparison. Erislandy Lara 35 year old defensive fighter, long amateur career, 30 pro bouts 47% KO rating has fought 199 rounds. Gennedy Golovkin 36 year old offensive fighter, long amateur career, 39 pro bouts, 87% KO rating has fought 184 rounds. GGG has fought 9 more times than Lara and has 15 fewer rounds than him. I think that's going to play toward longevity.

Floyd Mayweather and Wladimir Klitschko are contemporaries. 50 fights to 69, 397 to 369. It's worth noting that because of his boring jab and grab style Klitschko really didn't get hit much more than Floyd either. Wilfred Benitez has way more rounds and fewer fights than Hagler or Hearns. Niccolino Loche has 1349 rounds to Ruben Olivares' 598 because Locche has a 10% KO percentage to Olivares' 75%. Less time in the ring is less time getting hit.

 

Interesting take. I dont think I've ever seen this discussed before. On the surface it seems to make a lot of sense. In that offensive fighters score more KOs. Thus fight less rounds. Therefore take less punches. But I think offensive fighters fight with a higher workrate.

They also are typically more reliant on their natural physicality than defensive fighters which declines with age. You can be 36 and never taken a punch in your life. But you're still going to maintain a 36 year old workrate. I've never seen a guy that old look like Aaron Pryor did against Arguello. Or how Margarito looked against Cotto.

Also, offensive fighters are typically in more savage fights. It's not just the compubox punishment tracker. A hard grueling offensive style war sees different types of punches landed than a tactically fought fight.

 

I agree, that the more offensive minded fighters are more likely to get into wars, but I still think that it's interesting how little damage Tyson took in most of his fights. Spinks and Carl Williams only landed 8 punches on him. Berbick landed 13, versus Smith it's 51. Meanwhile, the worst Mike every got busted up was perhaps the Douglas fight, 230 landed punches? Castillo landed 223 on Floyd. I couldn't find the compubox numbers for Mike vs Holyfield I but I'm guessing Tyson might have got hit 221 times like Floyd did against Maidana in their first bout. After that, it's like what were their hardest bouts? Lewis vs Mike, Mike shipped 193 punches while Jesus Chavez hit Floyd 182 times. Tucker hit Tyson 174 times and Carlos Hernandez hit Floyd 172 times. Ruddock (II) hit Mike 124 so match that with De La Hoya 122... Rios 155, Canelo 117, Guerrero 113, Augustus 108, Cotto 105, Genaro Hernandez 103, Mosley 92, Judah 82, Hatton 63, Gatti 41, Manfredi 19

Mike Tyson's fights Green 130, Ribalta 94, Smith 51, I'm having increasing trouble finding compubox stats for Mike Tyson so I'll have to stop the comparison. I really thought that almost every fight of theirs had been recorded by compubox so I could actually get to the bottom about who got hit more.

 

His style lends to aging much better than others. Still mighty impressive and then some.

 

Kov has a better jab, heavier punch and better long range skills, that's why he won the first fight, he does them things better than Ward imo, in close and mentality, mixed with dirty tricks is Ward's territory. He doesn't do everything better imo Ward

 

Golovkin not only has huge power, he has great combinations, the best chin in boxing, can cut off the ring and is ready to knock El Pollo out!!! Golovkin stays in shape, works hard, has defense whenever he uses it, timing, entertaining to watch.........................it's a shame so many hate Eastern European fighters..................

 

Being offensive takes more energy. Look at how Pac had to adjust to a more laid back, tactical style to beat Tim Bradley due to age. Energy expended in a fight can be a bigger factor than punches taken.

GGG is an offensive minded fighter but he fights at a measured pace and isn’t really explosive, which ages better than a style like Tyson’s.

A real anomaly was Joe Calzaghe who was throwing 100 punches in a round (or close to it) deep into his thirties and fighting on his toes.