Golovkin is 34 now, it sucks but it seems that playtime will be over soon. Right now he's at his absolute peak but I can't see him going past 35 and not slowing down a tad. I think 2016 will be the last we'll see of Golovkin at his best, let's hope he manages to do big things next year. His management should know this.
Which is one reason moving up may end up being an option. If he can't get the other top MWs to fight him, or, if he does go thru the worthy ones in 2015, he should probably move up.
His prime may last a couple more years. He fights 3-4 times a year but takes less punishment than many in one fight. The only fight in his professional career where he took significant (by volume, not power) punishment was the Ouma fight a long time ago.
It´s a shame but it looks like that. Golovkin at his peak ends very soon. I can´t see anyone following his dominance at 160. Probably they will try to sell Canelo as a next champion but I wont buy it if he doesn´t prove himself against Golovkin.
Even the most preserved fighters decline into their mid 30s. You just cannot stop it. Reflexes and speed slip. GGG looks like that won't affect him too much because he's a timing and power fighter. But stamina decreases after 35 too. And that will surely affect him. You can't just decide "nah I'm not getting old. Everybody else on Earth has had to do it, but I'm different."
Yeah... If you don't take punishment you can prevent from slipping in your 20s but you can't extend it past 35, fighters do fight on after that and have success, I'm not saying that can't happen but they're not in their prime anymore.
Question remains, why did he duck Ward then, when he's leveraged by age, prestige and money? People act like there's time to wait.
Probably because he high risk/low reward. Ward's not a big name. It wouldn't really move the needle and get GGG noticed with the casuals in comparison to Canelo/Cotto. Once you go up in weight at his age it's impossible to go back down often times. He might lose because Ward is bigger and extremely skilled. He knows he could get a way bigger payday demolishing Canelo or Cotto.
Also, Ward could easily do the same thing he did with Brand. Just wait and see him repeating it with Kova.
Highly doubt that this will seriously affect GGG, as he doesn't highly rely on reflexes or speed. His technical abilities are very high and in regards of stamina, it might affect him, but this will just change his fight picture, he will just adjust the fight plan to his stamina abilities. People just forget that he is doing current style just to be more fan friendly and he can fight in totally different manner.
