That question might not need answring but we will know how he does vs a tall lanky exprienced fighter it will also allow us (here at ESB) to start 100,000 threads about how he would perform vs common Ishida opponenets :smoke
Not a great fight but if Golovkin ends up fighting 4-5 times this year than there's going to be a couple Ishida level opponents in there. It seems there's talk HBO wants him back around June/July so this is better than not fighting until then. If Golovkin's next fight after Ishida is another guy at this level then that will be very disappointing. Golovkin has a title, highly rated, and been on HBO two times. Time to face one of the other top contenders after this.
Ishida is a very nice guy. He thanked me after I told him I thought he beat Rigoberto Alvarez and that he did a great job against Kirkland. I am looking forward to this fight as Ishida is not in this for the payday. Though I am a fan of GGG I will watch this fight hoping for a good fight and not root for a particular fighter.
Who is GGG supposed to be fighting? The top guys at 160 don't want a piece and he'll fight anybody to stay on HBO making money. If he takes a catchweight with Ishida (like he offered Rosado) he could get in practice fighting at lower weight to see if HBO can pair him with any of the bigger fish at 154. We know Chavez Jr., Macklin. Martinez, Geale, Sturm, Quillin, N'Dam Jikam don't want **** all with GGG because he could end their careers. I agree that Pirog would be nice, but if HBO says no then just go with HBO.
I guess it was hard for him to get a highly ranked opponent on such short notice. As a stay-busy fight though, it's fine. I'd have tried to wait a bit and throw a big offer/an HBO appearance at Soliman to try and steal the mandatory status and force Geale to get in the ring with him though, but there's nothing wrong with Ishida as a stay-busy fight assuming GGG can get a bigger name opponent shortly afterward.
The card and tournament in Monaco looks awesome and having Golovkin headlining it is a nice touch. Golovkin, Rabchenko, Erdei, Grachev, Edwin Rodriguez
If you told me a year ago that Golovkin would be fighting in this region I would've guessed it would have been against N'Dam.
At least some ppl get it,Give the guy a break this will be his 2nd fight of 5 he's planning to have this year it's not his fault the whole division is blatantly ducking him, **** they don't even want to spar with him.I can see were ppl are coming from as a fan I also want to see him eagerly matched with a top 160lb fighter I'm sure most would agree but unfortunately most arent currently available or willing.Gaele just fought mundine NA,Sturm NA is coming off 2nd straight loss,Pirog Injured,Arum is not going to feed his cash cow jr to a lion especially coming off huge loss if ever,Macklin NA f*ck cut him some slack I don't see every champion fighting elite fighters fight in & out they'll be available eventually chill out.If he's still doing this for another year then I'd be worried.Would you guys rather see him take Bradley route & stay incative for months?:-huh:think
You can't blame Martinez for not fighting GGG. At his age, its about money. Remember, he was the guy everyone was ducking for a long time. I'm glad he finally broke through.