The 12 Fighters In Boxing History Who Made The Ring's #1 PFP Spot

With 146 unofficial votes tallied for the GGG-Canelo 1 bout, only 9 people felt that Canelo won the fight. That's about 6% of the votes.

Two of them are Canelo's promoters.

Five others are of Latino heritage (as is Canelo).

One other used to work for Fight Hype (never a bastion of GGG support).

About 80% of respondents felt GGG won the fight.

Thus, if a pound-for-pound voter believes that Golovkin won the fight but did not get the official nod, it would be pretty easy for that voter to have Golovkin as the top PFP fighter. Particularly given who GGG was fighting (another top boxer).

 

Even though you are being sarcastic, you are correct. The decline in GGG's ability seemed truly first evident in the Brook bout, which took place when GGG was 34 years old.

For comparison's sake, Marvin Hagler retired at age 32 and Andre Ward said his body could no longer handle the sport at age 33.

If you have watched GGG's career and understand the aging process for athletes, all of this is elementary. I am in my mid-40's and know what aging does to an athlete.

Here is what Jacobs said before he fought GGG (that bout took place right after GGG-Brook). I can't link the site but here's the quote.

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Jacobs saw what everyone else saw in the GGG-Brook fight. And, as I mentioned above, people started feeling like they might actually have a chance against GGG after they watched him fight Brook.

Until then, for years, numerous fighters wanted nothing to do with Golovkin. Including Canelo, who dropped the WBC belt in May 2016 rather than face GGG.

GGG-Brook took place in September 2016. And that bout, along with the GGG-Jacobs fight, helped Canelo find his courage to finally meet GGG in the ring.

This is all basic. Nobody wanted anything to do with GGG (except Brook, and credit to him) until September 2016 and Golovkin was 34 years old.

Prime Golovkin would annihilate Canelo. Jacobs might still last the fight with Prime Golovkin, but that has more to do with Jacobs' athletic ability than any deficiency in GGG's skills.

My guess is Jacobs does not last the entire fight against Prime Golovkin. But if Jacobs really got on his bike and stayed there for the whole fight -- and he came in at like 180 pounds as he did to help his punch resistance -- maybe he lasts the entire bout. But he would be knocked down (as he was), and probably multiple times.

Golovkin is the truth. Anyone who can't see that, particularly as regards Prime Golovkin, just doesn't understand the sport.

Even Atlas -- The King Of All Golovkin Haters -- understood the reality after he watched GGG-Canelo.

 

Let's see how Lomachenko and Crawford look when they are 34-35 years old.

GGG is post-prime now. So you have a guy beyond his best years taking on top talent and still winning. And, to even go further, he's fighting guys who outweigh him on fight night.

That pretty much says it all.

I don't think there is any doubt now that Golovkin will be in the Hall Of Fame. 19 consecutive defenses, only one of 12 men to ever make Ring Magazine PFP #1 in 28 years.

He's done everything. The end is near, but he's clearly made his mark.

 

I'm not a true believer, I'm a realist. I've seen a good portion of GGG's career and I know what he can do at his best and how he has declined since then.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Jacobs (and I like him), which is why I said he might actually make the whole fight against Prime GGG. That's a big compliment, given that Jacobs was the first guy to reach the end of a GGG scheduled-12-round bout in 21 such career GGG bouts.

GGG is a destroyer. But he's not a brute. He's tremendously skilled. That's what makes him so deadly.

A brute is someone like Lemieux. Huge power, but lacks some basic skills.

Prime GGG had everything, except top-level speed and movement. But it didn't matter, because of his pressure and ability to cut off the ring. And because of his chin. He would find you, trap you, and take you out. No one could stop that.

Because of Jacobs' size, power and athletic ability, he may have been able to get on the bike and last 12 rounds. Even against Prime GGG. But he's not going to win the fight. Not unless he has Canelo's judges, anyways. He's going to be on defense the whole time trying to hold off the monster.

I think Lampley said that what he saw in GGG-Canelo is that GGG can't cut off the ring and trap guys like he once did. I agree. If he could, Canelo does not last 8 rounds. Canelo would have zero chance against Prime GGG. No chance. He doesn't have the physical attributes needed (as Jacobs does have) to be able to survive.

Canelo is a tremendous fighter. He's improved an enormous amount. But he's not at GGG's level, at least not as a middleweight. That's not a knock on Canelo, it's just that he's probably ideally made to be more of a 154 guy given his physical attributes.

 

Ward wanted GGG, sure. At 168 pounds. And even then there did seem to be hesitation for Ward at least once as regards GGG.

And it's true, Lara did seem to want GGG. I'll give him credit, also. As Brook deserves credit.

But I'm mostly talking about middleweights.

Sturm ----------> Avoided GGG
Geale -----------> Avoided GGG
Martinez --------> Avoided GGG

And so forth.

 

Here's what people need to understand about GGG and Jacobs, and just GGG overall.

Jacobs is 6' 1" and was probably like 178-180 pounds on fight night. He has a 73" reach (GGG is 70") and is very athletic and mobile. He deliberately skipped the second-day weigh-in to try to gain even more mass for the bout.

Jacobs came into the GGG fight on a 12-fight, 6-year T/KO win streak. He was a champion. He was 32-1 (29). Knockout artist. Prime of his career. He was fighting an over-the-hill version of GGG.

What happened?

The small, old guy forced Jacobs -- the larger man with very heavy hands -- onto his bike after Jacobs got sent to the canvas.

People need to appreciate what GGG is and has been. No one can stand with him and win. Your only hope is to face a Past Prime version of him, be larger than him on fight night, and get on your bike. Just to survive. And that's not even talking about trying to win the fight.

 

They are not better, which is why both Ring and ESPN have GGG ranked above them.

Golovkin will be out of the top spot soon, though. There's no doubt about that. He's fading.