Was GGG a better talent than Bivol & Beterbiev

No.

As someone who appreciated GGG in his prime he was closer to a hybrid of Bivol and Beterbiev but lacking their mastery of what makes those two so special and unique.

Beterbiev knocked out everyone, until Bivol, at an advanced age while Daniel Jacobs went twelve with a prime GGG after being obliterated in five by Pirog.

Bivols mastery of distance and defense was something, talent wise, GGG never had. What GGG did have was a cast iron chin that he used to block punches with.

 

Actually, Jacobs was ahead on the cards. He just got caught with a beauty of a shot from Pirog. But yeah, obliterated is a good way of describing what happened. LOL

 

I think you're selling GGG short by claiming he simply blocked punches with his iron chin, as if he wasn't a defensively skilled boxer. Not only that, GGG had a legendary KO and Middleweight defense streak. One's punching power and ability to KO everyone you faced is certainly a big part of one's "talent". When you compare Beterbiev to GGG, both were big punchers in their prime until they finally later in their career met their first elite opponents. In Beterbiev's ccase it was Bivol 2x, in GGG's case it was Jacobs then Canelo. But if you compare GGG and Beterbiev, who was the more powerful puncher, who was the more skilled fighter? I think in both of those you could arguably say GGG was, certainly in terms of skill and technique, maybe power would go to Beterbiev. But we're talking talent.

Comparing to GGG to Bivol, well GGG was a much bigger puncher, while Bivol was a better mover and defensive fighter, better footwork you could say, faster hands perhaps, but comparable and debatable in terms of overall skill. I would like to hear from more GGG fans about this. Because I think it's fair to say that prior to GGG fighting Canelo or perhaps Jacobs, GGG was far more hyped around here than Bivol or Beterbiev ever was, at least before Bivol's recent victory or before Bivol beat Canelo. It's an interesting comparison, but I think now a lot of people are sort of underrating GGG based on what happened against Canelo, but if you look at his entire body of work, it tells a much different story.

Maybe fans didn't consider GGG to be in his prime by the time he lost to Canelo, while Bivol was several years younger than GGG was when he lost to Canelo than when Bivol lost to and struggled to beat Artur in the rematch. I mean Bivol lost to a much older fighter than who GGG lost to, and I don't think anyone would claim that Beterbiev was more skilled than Canelo was at any point. More powerful of a puncher maybe, tougher sure, but not better, and much older. Bivol hasn't been given the excuse by his fans of being past his prime already at 34 that GGG was at 35 or 36. So there's a lot of key differences here but in terms of talent I think there's definitely an argument that GGG was more talented than Bivol and Beterbiev, at least in some aspects, but certainly Bivol was the better mover, had the better footwork, the faster hands, but didn't punch nearly as hard as GGG and both men's defense abilities are comparable. And of course I think we can say GGG had the better chin than Bivol. I think you could also say that GGG may have had the better jab than Bivol, at least the harder more piston-like jab. As to who was the better combination puncher, I think that's debatable. I don't think Beterbiev is as good of a combination puncher as either GGG or Bivol.

 

Although he’s not far behind, GGG wasn’t the better talent.

 

Yes. IMO.

Better pro record and better amateur record.

Skill wise, I thought Golovkin had a lot of subtle, nuanced facets to his game that made him a more complete, effective and entertaining fighter. Andre Ward always said: "boxing is a game of inches", and that's what I thought Golovkin was good at - the nuanced tactics/actions. The neat overhands on the top of the head, the rolling with punches, the shifting, the little off centre head placement after a punch, the punch selection, the volume of punches, his punch placement, his aggression, his cutting off the ring was formidable, the positioning of style, his chin was solid, his jab was beautiful, his lead right hand, I mean some of the stuff he did in the ring (against the more skilled operators) was phenomenal. The Sweet Assassin. Bivol and Biev are both impressive too, with real subtle kinks to their games but just think GGG was just slightly more suited to my idea of a talented fighter.

GGG's magnus opus was Canelo 2. Canelo's magnus opus was GGG 2. Canelo being prime-prime and GGG just slightly coming out of his prime. Bivol, IMO, fought a Canelo who didn't belong at that weight: 175.

Bivol's Magnus opus was against Beterbiev and vice versa. Beterbiev being way way older and coming off significant injuries - ever so slightly degrades Bivol's win. I believe that Beterbiev lost that fight rather than Bivol winning it, up to rd 6 and I thought Biev had it in the bag but he slowed down so much.

 

I think this sells Golovkin a little short. Jacobs was elite for a period of time; and he was doing okay-ish against Pirog until getting caught big, and had just lost his very close grandmother at that point. Against Canelo, Bivol did better but I'm not sure the difference fully makes up for being two weight classes up. GGG was 35 in his legacy fight fighting a 27 year old, while Bivol was 33 fighting a 39 year old, and yet GGG did better.

GGG actually had better defense than he was given credit for. He was a very good amateur and could box carefully, but his brand was about taking one to land one and going for KOs.

I couldn't say GGG was definitely a better talent but he's in the frame with the other two; all three are top-class, unique talents in different ways.

 

GGG was a good, solid champ who wouldve competed in any era. That doesnt mean he would've won but he wouldve competed. But the myth of GGG is far better than his ability. GGG went life and death w Danny Jacobs (HBO broadcast team had Jacobs winning) and Dervenchenko (who had GGG in full retreat on more than one occasion). GGG passed on legacy fights versus Ward and Canelo due to weight contradictions. GGG famously offered Rosado a 158lb CW but Rosado refused. When Canelo wanted a CW it was off the table and so the fight took an extra year to make. GGG challenged Ward who immediately accepted but then GGG clarified the fight needed to happen at 164 CW...even though GGG offered JCC and Froch fights at 168. To top it off, the WW Kell Brook initially wanted a CW and GGG refused making Kell move fully from 147-160.

Nonetheless GGG wouldve competed in any era but he was weak to the body and could be stopped, but his boxing fundamentals and power wouldve made him live in any fight.

Both Bivol and Beterbiev were better than GGG w better pedigrees

 

Yes, however, there were times he let people to hit him and he would then nod his head while motioning them to come forward with his hands.

GGG was also willing take take a punch to deliver one due to his power and chin. GGG factored his chin into his defense actively.

When comparing his defense it was a level below Bivols, maybe two as Bivol's opponents have a ridiculously low connect rate on him.

 

No he is certainly not

 

I think that if GGG got the decisions against Canelo, the perception would be a little different.

However, I don't think he is as good as Bivol or Beterbiev. GGG was a great fighter and he's got his own set of strengths, but he's just slightly below Bivol & Beterbiev in terms of overall ability.

Bivol is clearly the better boxer (as demonstrated by the H2H matchup against Canelo). I think Bivol has better offensive ability as well, especially at long range. Beterbiev is the better offensive fighter, especially on the inside and mid-range.

 

Neither Bivol nor Beterbiev has a signature "overcut", a reverse uppercut punch that comes from above downwards the opponent's head to bypass his guard.

Beterbiev is known for rabbit punching and Bivol has weak hands.

 

Great post. To be honest, I wouldn't say Bivol was a better mover than G. G had great footwork as well, he just used it to stay in striking range, Bivol uses footwork in a more defensive capacity.

 

GGG had the chance to move up to fight bigger stars. Had Usyk hung around Cruiserweight would he have the acclaim he has today? Of course not. He would be a Cruiserweight great, but he would not have the marquee names

GGG fought a load of dross for the majority of his career. Imagine he had the likes of Kessler and Froch on his resume?

 

In my opinion the most talented of the 3 boxers is Bivol, footwork is a very important skill in boxing and his is exceptional, and in addition to being fast he knows how to have excellent distance control. So he can be very skilled both in the defensive and offensive phase, if he had more power for me he would be the perfect fighter.

More power than GGG and Beterbiev have, unquestionably great boxers. They also move well, especially in cutting the ring, an important skill for pressure fighters like them, in the defensive phase I find that they are inferior to Bivol (who is also faster in landing punches).

I read comments on matches between GGG and super middleweights like Froch and Kessler but in my opinion GGG had the perfect structure for a middleweight (like Hagler), so I think he did well to fight his entire career in that category (of course, excluding the third match with Canelo), where in fact he dominated for years.