Was GGG a better talent than Bivol & Beterbiev

Hard to measure talent as it's not a single metric. Bivol is the better mover, has better distance control and fundamentals, but can be a tiny bit sloppy and unimaginative on offence, which GGG rarely was. What I mean by that is, that if Bivol has you against the ropes his punches are going to be peppering you with blistering speed but there'll be a certain rhythm to his work which you might be able to ride out. If GGG got you against the ropes he'd blast you with numerous hard shots from all sorts of weird angles but also without a really readable rhythm, similar to the way Tszyu used to attack. Of course Bivol's speed is a killer all of its own so I'm not saying one is superior to the other here, just that they're better and worse in certain ways.

Beterbiev's offence is of course insane, but his strengths are his ability to get into power punching range which he does mostly with his footwork and timing, less with his jab. Golovkin's approach was similar but he tended to be more cautious in how he approached fighters, making heavy use of his steampole jab (which he also used as a frame for his power shots) and a deep crablike crouch that kept him poised to either pull back or advance whenever he saw an opening. Beterbiev is a bit more one note in this regard as he's so relentlessly focussed on coming forward that he's forced to just shell up if he's put on the backfoot. GGG was a lot more versatile there.

It's worth noting that GGG was the smaller man than either, so results against common opponents have to reflect that, but as Fisty Cuffs mentioned, there were a lot of subtle aspects to his game that tend to get overlooked when assessing him.

 

I see what you mean here. Golovkin's footwork was very educated, and yes economical (as was his punching). Bivol's mastery in the footwork department stems mostly from his fleet-footedness and great stamina. I wonder how well it will age though as his legs get heavier.

 

I love the insights you're bringing to this thread BTW.

 

One way to put it in perspective is to imagine if GGG was a 6ft tall natural light heavyweight, coming down from 190 lbs and the PFP power he would carry in against these guys along with his skill and chin. What great fights those would be. Imagine if he was blasting out top 10 light heavyweights the the same way he blasting out the middleweights. Well, the bottom line is they are all 3 elite thats for sure.

 

Jacobs was plain not ready that night. He wasn't the fighter that fought GGG that's for sure. He just lost his grandmother who he was extremely close to, just days before, and wanted to cancel, but couldn't. Against GGG he was as ready as ever was for any fight.

 

It's a tough call.

 

GGG should have two wins over Canelo, as competitive as they were, he deserved the hard earned wins.

 

I dont think he had the frame for 168lbs. After he got older a packed on alot of muscle for a few years, then he fought the trilogy fight, but by then he was over the hill. He still showed great skill in that fight, nullifying alot of Canelo's work and taking his shots like the were feather dusters, making the great, much younger Canelo look so, so.

 

Yeah

 

To me, GGG beat Canelo on the so called back foot in fight #2. It was likely both Canelo and GGGs best performance.

 

GGG had a stoppage run of 23 consecutive fights over 8 years from 2008 until the Jacob’s fight in 2017 iirc.To put that into context Bivol has had 25 fights and Beterbiev has had 22 fights there whole careers . It seems like some people are already sleeping on how good GGG actually was .

 

GGG not getting a decision vs Canelo the first time hurts him so bad. There is a stronger argument he won 2/3 than 0/3.