"Golovkin has to move up" -wrong. Lemme cut you off there. He actually doesn't, ever.

...but there's no impetus for him to do so. Moving up just for the sake of moving up makes no sense. Moving up for James freaking DeGale (when, a couple of short years from now, Saunders and Eubank could easily be their countryman's p4p equals, or betters) makes no sense. The supposed mega event is Golovkin vs. Ward, but that requires now jumping TWO divisions - and Golovkin isn't exactly a gigantic middleweight to begin with. He's perfectly suited to exactly where he is. He could probably get away with campaigning at SMW if there was a compelling reason to go there (currently there isn't). LHW is really pushing it. Besides, this isn't a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao or Hagler vs. Hearns type of situation where the build-up is concentrated on 2 guys with all the fans wearing horse-blinders. This has been a weird quadrangle the last couple of years with the Golovkin vs. Mayweather, Ward vs. Golovkin, Kovalev vs. Ward stuff. The focus has NEVER been exclusively just on Ward and Golovkin. They are not "destined rivals". The attention on that potential match-up has always been split with that received by a speculative Golovkin vs. Mayweather clash at 160, or 154, or some catch-weight...and with that received by Ward vs. Kovalev at 175 or 168 or some catch-weight (previously...not so much an issue now that Andre is a full-time 175lber). Ward already has another 'destined rival' competing in the same division he is currently in. Until they meet (Kovalev and Ward, that is), Ward vs. Golovkin is hardly some moral imperative, or boxing fans' holy grail. And even if they do meet, either way, depending on the nature of the outcome, it could well diminish the value that a Ward vs. Golovkin might have. If he loses (especially badly), Ward is no longer in a position to be demanding Golovkin scale the heights and heighten the scales after him. If he straight up beats the brakes off Kovalev - well...that kind of makes picking on Golovkin afterwards seem a little silly, doesn't it? Who's going to shell out PPV money to see Golovkin jump up to face Ward if even Kovalev (far bigger than Golovkin, and in the same neighborhood in terms of talent) got his ass kicked?

 

Oh yeah, so many people skip over 2-3-4 divisions to get big money fights. :roll:

He really ought to be getting in the ring with Usyk by 2018 or else his entire career was a bust, huh?

 

It totally is, unless you can name me a name that creates an impetus for him to do so.

...besides Andre Ward, because last I checked he still has Kovalev problems.

What other name would make Golovkin indisputably 'more great' for packing on the pounds to meet them? Who else has the h2h credentials or star power to do that for him, to singularly enhance his legacy in one fell swoop? Other than Ward? Above middle and below Cruiser?


...:conf