Steven Michael Rolls vs. KeAndrae Leatherwood

Rolls rose to the occasion and did better against GGG than either Wade or Vanes...and honestly, I take that version of Rolls to beat the versions of Wade and Vanes that GGG faced every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Wouldn't rule him out against the iteration of Rocky Fielding that knelt so easily to Canelo back in December.

It was a cherry pick, yeah... but at least Rolls brought some composure and determination to the dance. Vances and Wade...not so much.

In truth, he probably did about as well, and lasted about as long as N'dam would have against Golovkin.

 

Rolls provided more resistence than Dominic Wade. He had a nice round 2 and showed some decent boxing skill, but GGG got him out of there as expected. I don't really have a problem with him fighting Rolls, who would you have rather he fought instead? Would you have preferred he gotten right in there with Andrade ? From what I'm reading that fight was on the table, but Team GGG refused to make that fight. I don't think it would have made sense to fight a guy like Derevyanchenko in a non-title fight, after vacating the belt with him as mandatory last year.

As far as GGG being on a subtle but marked decline since fighting Canelo, as another poster mentioned, I think you need to acknowledge the punishment he took in each of the Canelo bouts. Canelo landed some massive shots on GGG in both matches, without a doubt the biggest shots GGG has ever taken. And I also think mentally the two Canelo fights were taxing on GGG. When you go to war like that it takes a toll on you mentally and physically. The kind of punches he absorbed from Canelo I think we have to admit contributed to that subtle but market decline, however with that said, I thought he looked pretty good vs Vanes. I really didn't see any real signs of decline. Lets not forget even before he fought Canelo, even before he fought Jacobs, he didn't look great vs Kell Brook either. Remember plenty of fans were commenting on how drained and unhealthy GGG looked on fight week before he fought Brook. So given how he looked vs Brook, was he on the decline way back then ?

While there may be some truth to GGG being on the decline, I can't help but think it's too often being used as an excuse to discredit what Canelo did to him. On the one hand we got posters who say GGG was robbed, on the other hand you got posters saying he's on the decline. Well which is it, you can't have it both ways. Either he hasn't lost a step and therefore was good enough to beat Canelo, or he's on the decline which explains why he lost. The argument that he's much less of a fighter than he was in his prime but still beat Canelo clearly is laughable. Canelo Alvarez is at the top of the sport for a reason, and GGG needs to be at his best to beat him. You can't be 75% of yourself and beat Canelo Alvarez.

 

Who would I rather him have fought? Than freaking Steve Rolls?!?!

Hmm, maybe Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam?

Rolls and HNN were both offered the fight, simultaneously. Both said yes. There is ZERO excuse to have cherry-picked Rolls when HNN was ready, willing and available...especially since 99% of the planet had been saying for years, since both were undefeated middleweight prospects, that GGG would beat HNN the day they ultimately met.

 

Also, do you realize how immaterial comparisons between Rolls' performance against GGG and Wade's are?

You're forgetting that Golovkin isn't just unstuck from time, existing in a vacuum unchanged. He is declining. Rapidly. If a guy like Rolls (who is a lesser foe than even Dominic Wade, trust me) did better against 2019 GGG than Wade did against 2016 GGG, the takeaway shouldn't be that "oh I guess Rolls >> Wade", that's IDIOTIC. The takeaway is obviously that 2016 GGG >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2019 GGG.

 

While N'dam would have been a much better choice based on accomplishments, I just don't think N'dam would have done that much better than Rolls did even agaist a diminished version of Golovkin. Based on HNN's decline, I would bet multiple farms that he suffers the same fate, in the same manner, that he did against Callum Smith. Just too vulnerable to the short counter, and too badly affected when those shots connect.

Same result in the end, either way. N'dam would certainly look better on a resume, but I dunno if he would have improved upon Roll's performance at this point in his career.

 

Or GGG isn't declining rapidly and Rolls is just flat out better than Wade, which seems pretty clear based on how each guy performed vs GGG. (regardless of how much GGG may have declined since then) I don't care how many years ago GGG fought Wade, Rolls performed much better than Wade did, he proved that by how he fought and that he actually was throwing shots with conviction and landed some big punches. Wade on the other hand just completely laid down and folded like a house of cards vs GGG. Rolls actually came to fight and engaged in some toe to toe warfare, got in some good shots. It wasn't a bad scrap for a few rounds whereas Wade hugely disappointed. You're so stuck on this theory that GGG is declining that you can't just look at how each guy fought vs GGG and see that Rolls was a better opponent than Wade. I don't recall anyone calling Wade a cherry pick of an opponent heading into the GGG fight, and if you believe that GGG has declined since then, then it's even more of a reason to take a less dangerous opponent now.