Dan Rafael said Geale, Kirkland, Lee are the names being discussed and Lee would be a hell of a lot better than Kirkland. Lee was Chavez's best win which was enough for the boxing world to demand a Martinez fight. You could argue Rubio too, close, but you get the point (he didn't beat Zbik)
Geale would by far be the best option imo, but I'm afraid it will be Kirkland. Action fight and all :roll:
Geale is a former Champion and is currently rated #3 by RING it would be his best win to date and that's what GGG needs. If they force a Kirkland fight i'll lose all faith in Ken Hershman at HBO.
Kirkland would be a good marketing option for 3G and also a good action packed fight as long as it lasts. Geale or Rubio would be some good options in terms of quality opponents for 3G.
Lee is decent but is too open defensively to survive against GGG (no shame in that) and his loss vs Chavez Jr is suspicious no doubt considering Chavez Jr didn't give a urine sample and didn't have his gloves weighed/checked. Geale would be the best opponent of those listed, although he isn't elite, he is proven at world level, is experienced and tough. Kirkland would be exciting but I think an easy win for GGG and ok for money/exposure if no other better fights could be made. Its a reality that nobody wants to fight GGG. Eddie Hearn basically said it over a year ago, including the likes of Barker. Strum and Quillin have totally avoided him, Murray didn't accept the fight but was going to fight on the undercard instead, Martinez has said he will be interested but can't really blame him as much for chasing the money fight vs Cotto. GGG has beaten Macklin, Barker has retired, that leaves very little left for him at the moment in MW. In a way GGG is in a bad position because it might be too soon to step up to 168 as he has unfinished business at MW.
What elite opposition is there for him to face? Martinez, the only other elite guy at the weight, is fighting Cotto. The other champs don't want to face him. That leaves Ward I guess but that would mean a move up to 168
Martinez is not elite anymore either at this point. It would be a nice passing the torch-fight, nothing else, and I don't think Martinez fancys the idea of getting raped by GGG at this stage of his career anyway, unless they give him absurd amounts of money to reconsider. What is there for Martinez to gain from a GGG-fight other than money? **** that. GGG called out anybody from 154 to 168, Ward answered his call, so it's time to walk the walk now for both.
I agree that Martinez is well past best and GGG would beat him, depends what he shows vs Cotto to see if he is elite anymore (I think Cotto could beat him). But MW isn't a stacked division like people make it out to be. Maybe he should fight Ward if the fight can be made, he could come back to MW after if he did the weight right.
With Martinez gone the division will be completely dead, and he will never get his hands on the other belts as long as the other champs won't face him (Sturm, Quillin). GGG can go down again and rule MW even if he was to get totally dominated by Ward, he really doesn't have that much to lose. He should take the chance, he doesn't get younger. The fight would be huge and would raise both the guys profiles. If the Martinez-fight doesn't materialize until the end of the year, it should be Golovkin - Ward.
As soon as GGG steps up and decides to fight really solid opponents etc...Lara, Ward, Froch....than we can talk about where he stands in the ranking. As for now he's a prosperous fighter and taking things easy, which is smart. Every time he comes out he display good ring work.
I don't know why but I have a feeling that Martinez is gonna lose (controversial decision or not) the fight with Cotto, then PBF would fight Cotto for the MW WBC title and then in the end Martinez running out of options would want to cash out into a fight vs Golovkin.