Reality Check about GGG at SMW.

Problem with 154 is most of the top guys are Showtime fighters, while GGG is contracted to fight on HBO.

 

That's a pretty fair assessment. I agree. GGG would have a decent chance against Ward simply because of the power, but I think Ward beats GGG more consistently than GGG beats Ward, for sure.

 

I dont think MW or SMW seem to be as strong as they were a few years back.
Im sure many will jump on this thread or even try and avoid it. Some will not even be able to recall a few years back and others are just taken by hype and thinking if a fighter is known, it must be a good division with tough fights. Still here goes...


MW...
We have just seen a fighter who had been a former LWW title holder, and been a LW, go up and defeat the MW champ (I know Duran did it), who was a former WW. Now Cotto and Martinez are great fighters, who I rate highly, but I dont think either would be near the top in the era a few years back, with Hopkins, Holmes, Joppy or even MWs that were around like Echoles and Eastman.
Im not sure either would want to go up to MW when you had such big MWs around.

SMW...
Suddenly people who didnt watch the division much before the S6, think its a tough glamour division, but dont have a clue. The biggest win for the magazine champ and magazine #1, is a faded fighter beaten when prime in the previous era. The champ, just beat Kessler, who beat Froch, who beat Bute and never beat a top undefeated fighter. Ward may be good, but we wont know, because hes not in an era to show it. The current #1 was beaten by faded Kessler, taken to a Mdec by faded Johnson who couldnt make it in the previous era at SMW.
I am sure these fighters would have made an impact, but dont think it would have been to the same degree a few years back. Consider how Ward struggled with faded Bika and Froch lost to faded Kessler, then see how they would have done with those fighters in their primes.
If you need further proof, just look at how in the previous era, Steiglitz was not able to get a title, yet became a world champ in this era, Bika when prime in the previous era was beaten, yet now when faded in this era, is a world champ.



What we need to remember...
The MW champ of the previous era, did clean up and beat the top rival champs
The SMW champ of the previous era, did clean up and beat the top rival champs

All this takes time and that shouldnt be forgotten, and other fighters will come through.


Today...
With undefeated fighters, we really dont know how good they often are or arent, but they often need top fighters to show it against.

MW
Golovkin and Quillin, may become top players, but I think both need to get some fair comp on their resumes, like Sturm, Murray, Geale for example, to build up big interest for a unification.

SMW
Ward does not really have any other top undefeated fighters to face. He had Bute but didnt face him. Ward could face DeGale possibly, as Ward has not fought a good boxer mover to my knowledge, and didnt get to face Andre Dirrell either.



Look at how Geale and Soliman are considered top MWs today, yet Mundine beat them and was faded by the time he beat Geale.
Look at how Bika in this era can be a SMW champ but was unable in the previous era.
Look at how Froch lost to faded Kessler, who is Wards biggest win, but Kessler was faded then and lost to the previous champ years previously.

 

Yeah. Good point.

 

Where is he hiding that power? 2 KOs in last 10 fights, mostly vs fringe comp he grossly outsized

 

GGG is, however, very hard to hit cleanly. He's almost always taking the sting off punches with parries, angles, and pulling/rolling with them. Chavez hasn't exactly been sparking guys, lately, either. I do believe Chavez' inside game might pose a problem for GGG, though, especially with the size advantage he'd have on fight night. We haven't really seen how GGG handles a big guy with his shoulder up on him all night. I think GGG's power might be enough to keep Chavez off of him, but it would be interesting to see. I like the matchup, and hope it eventually takes place.

 

The bigger foe didn't seem to trouble him any.

 

He wouldn't steamroll the top SMW's but he could beat any of them on his day and they would be more likely to be actual fights instead of the one sided beatings he has been handing out at MW.

I could see GGG ending up like Froch at SMW. Having some close fights, some wars and possibly some losses but overall being successful at the weight. I think GGG has a better chance of beating Ward than Froch ever did.