Geale vs GGG

I think this fight would boil down to Geale not having enough power to earn Golovkin's full respect.

Geale would be on the backfoot, Golovkin would fight at a comfortable pace and break down Geale by the mid-late rounds.

 

:good

 

Not comparing the two, but people were saying the same thing about the fight with Macklin. All it takes is a few well placed body shots for him to stop moving as well, and we know how well and hard Golovkin goes to the body.

 

IB, give me a breakdown of how a Ward-Golovkin fight would go?

 

Probably need to specify venue and ref.

MSG fight with Dock reffing plays out completely differently than Oakland with Reiss reffing to the point where you are essentially theory crafting two completely different fights.

 

Oi... atsch

I have already posted too much today and need to get some work done, but here is a brief sketch of how I'd see it going:

Two main factors really.

Ward takes away Golovkin's jab on the outside, much as he did Kessler's (holding the ordinarily high-percentage Viking Warrior to a mere 28% with his then still par-excellence jab, still not quite the 16% Joe Calzaghe's spoiling lidded it with, but still very impressive) and Froch's (holding the Cobra to 19%). Ward's reach is nothing special at 168lbs, average or below, and yet he always out-jabs his opponents, even (maybe especially) when the jab is their best weapon. His timing and control of range is masterful. Golovkin's is, also, on both counts - but Ward is a bit looser on that first step and would be likely to jab Golovkin in the kisser and get out before Golovkin can pull trigger on his own stiff jab. Golovkin probably has the harder jab and his punching form is every bit as good as Ward's if not better, but the key here will be quickness, first-striking, anticipation, and footwork - all stronger suits for Ward IMO (not that they are at all weak for Golovkin - but someone has to come in 2nd in a two-man race...)

Ward is dismissive of Golovkin's body punching on the inside, much as he sneered at the best digs of Bika, Froch, etc. - lesser fighters perhaps but larger men than Golovkin with probably comparable pop in straight-up head to head terms (while Golovkin punches harder than either p4p). Ward is always fluid, always kinetic, positioned constantly to dial his entire body around or roll with shots high or low. Golovkin lands his meanest stuff on the body of stationary or flat-footed opponents, and those backing straight up onto the ropes. Ward does none of that; he will be pivoting to mitigate the force of Golovkin's blows downstairs whenever he sees them coming, and he will. Andre Ward has excellent 'ring vision', as well as offensive and defensive timing. He will be comfortable infighting, as he was against rough-and-tumble characters - and, not to stress the point too much, natural super middles - Bika and Froch. He will hit, clinch, and hit while moving away - with Golovkin looking for a clean organ-slammer on the way in and out but not able to get the purchase he ordinarily would on a non-mover or a scared victim moving backward in a straight line (and often with their guard raised too high in fear of Golovkin headhunting, making the mistake of exposing to a predator their soft underbellies).

Sorry for the brevity, maybe tonight or tomorrow I can expand on it. :good

 

Yeah, I already regret having to slap together such a hasty response. :yep

It feels like that all without context or elaboration reads as way too gushy over Ward and downplaying of Golovkin.

In reality I see it as very competitive, and I'm certainly more of a Golovkin fan than a Ward fan, but at the end of the day if asked to pick my impression is that it would be Ward's fight to lose and the aforementioned reasons are two of the main pillars of that.

 

All right, finally an elite fighter is going to expose the hype job Golovkin!

 

Excellent breakdown of both Geale and Ward v Golovki, IB. Both informative and stylistically impressive!

 

While I think IB has lots of good points, I disagree with him about the inside body punching. One thing that GGG can do that none of Wards previous opponents have been able to do is generate torque at point black range inside.

I would say GGG hits harder than Bika inside, and much, much, much harder than Froch inside especially to the body. Froch needs at least a foot, preferably 16" of forward distance to have any mustard - 16"+ for his body punches. If you are a couple feet from Froch he is deadly. But his close range body punches are terrible.

Now just because GGG can use torso rotational torque to generate power inside, does not mean he actually connects with it in meaningful fashion against Ward. But unlike those others, he is physically and stylistically potentially capable of doing so, where Froch was completely helpless as soon as Ward got in close.

 

Geale is not very good, I don't know why he gets rated so highly.

GGG would walk through him without any problems. I think Andy Lee is going to give GGG more problems than Geale ever would.

 

Good point. GGG punches with such extremely technical ability, he can generate power at close range. It's honestly one of the most perfect uses of body mechanics I've seen in combat sports. His fluid transition of force from feet to hands is like watching a perfect golf swing. The way he crams so much rotational torque into a jab is impressive, but I digress. So many boxers punch incorrectly, it's alarming.

I will say, though, GGG's inside game is one of the big question marks I have left on him. He hasn't really been tested inside. His skills and technique would suggest he can handle it, but until he's tested there, it's hard to say, and I remain skeptical from some of the things I've seen that might suggest he's not the most comfortable inside.

 

If I remember correctly, the middle rounds of the Ouma fight were mostly fought inside. I thought boxing-wise Ouma was getting the better of GGG there, but power-wise GGG's power was breaking Ouma down worse.

 

this is true. Stevens has benefited and will get another title shot -or seriously be in the mix for one- by years end.

 

GGG - Geale needs to happen. Perhaps GGG can forgo Lee and they can fight in late May....