He doesn't get credit for the fights he wasn't in. The fact of the matter is his resume is **** poor by Hof standards
The fact he was the boogeyman helps his argument. And his resume is filled with top 10 contenders whether you like it or not. Murata is another good scalp who is a gold medalist, title holder and top 5 fighter.
HOF for me. Pretty sure if he had went Pro earlier and got signature fights like Canelo earlier in his career he could have been an ATG. But as it stands currently, for me he is very much like Crawford - had the potential to be, but falls short; Crawford still has time if he can extricate himself from Arums clutches! I'd have liked to have seen GGG go up and try and stop Ward, or even Froch. He stagnated at 160 where the names and quality that could propel him on to ATG were simply not there. Resume wise, I think the reality of it is a bit murky - IMO he SHOULD have a win against a fellow HOF in Canelo (who's starting to get ATG type talk), but of course that was judged a draw when 90+% of writers and media had GGG by clear UD. That stinks, and coupled with the whole 160 catchweight farce with Cotto & Canelo, it's hard not to cut GGG some slack. But he never really "chased greatness" either. NB - H2H @ 160 would be a different story! My 2C.
Not an ATG. The only big win on his resume is Canelo in the first fight, but for me its not only about wins, but also HOW you win. Look how Hearns beat Duran, or SRL beat Hearns or how many names Hagler got on his resume. Golovkin went distance with Canelo, second fight he lost by tiny margin. He went life and death with Jacobs and Derev. As soon as his stepped up, his KO ratio dropped significantly and against Derev he showed weakness to body shots, which his sparring partners were telling since years... But hey, maybe i have high standarts.
He's a great at middleweight due to his dominance and length of reign but the quality he fought alone at that weight is not enough to make him a true ATG in the P4P sense like some of his other middleweight great peers who either fought and beat far better opposition or moved up in weight and proved they were more than just a great at middleweight but great P4P fighters by beating bigger men with their skills.
Golovkin dominated the middleweight division in his prime and held the WBC, WBA and IBF belts.He unified belts, drew officially vs Canelo first bout though I believe he deserved the decision. I'm not sure the MW division was the strongest in his time anyway, compared to other eras, but GGG boxed most of the best available at 160 and is a noteworthy middleweight champion. I would have liked to have seen him move up to 168 at some stage for a big fight or two, I think. So, Golovkin is possibly an ATG at 160lbs, depending on how an ATG is defined. Opinions differ. I think GGG is a borderline MW great with a few fights left to define his legacy further.
He doesn't have the signature bouts to be an all time great. Not really his fault as people sure weren't queueing up to face him (Jacobs had to be given 15% more than his rightful share of the purse to take his mandatory shot and Canelo had to be allowed to enter the ring first despite being the challenger). But whilst his resume is sufficient for hall of fame standards, ATG status is a whole different ball game.
GGG is a HOF and an ATG at 160, maybe not the ATG of 160 but he’s absolutely on the list somewhere Bye haters
GGG is one damn rare case for EE / eurasia ( actually eurasia ) origin boxer who benefited a lot from changing promoters and moving to US. They did not had treated him as possible cash cow in germany at all and did not gave him some well known boxers to fight with and maybe had assumed that he is someone form hole and nobody here. GGG really had benefited a lot when he get out from his german contracts and moved to other promotions and to the US. Problem most likely was that contract is contract and he with good contract and friendly promoter most likely had already get Sturm and some 2-3 well known boxers in the ring even before he had moved to US. They looks that had wasted his prime with a glance and GGG is one from rarity for eurasia/ europe boxers who had damn high benefits from moving to US.
Setting gloves controversy aside, does GGG even have a better resume than Margarito? Both were bogeymens with a decent run but was eventually beaten before getting a signature best win.
Margarito has 8 losses, was stopped twice and had 1 NC. GGG has never been down and only has 1 loss and 1 draw to the P4P King.
margarito's career is tainted. that's a big difference right there, plus golovkin was best in his division.
hopkins ATG status comes from fighting & winning belts in his late 40s - 50. GGG still has time, but he is fighting like he is on a Chávez Sr. Type of “Farewell tour” - not a good look.
