Was Golovkin Actually in his Prime when he fought Canelo?

I believe Golovkin has definately lost a step now, and might have lost a step already in the Canelo rematch.

But I think he was still prime in the first match - which he clearly won by the way.

It's just that he didn't look like a monster anymore after his opposition became tougher and better. He destroyed Kell Brook, who had no business at MW, but he looked human doing so. He looked very beatable against Danny Jacobs - who he still beat, but barely. A win is a win.

Seeing this, Canelo finally agreed to the fight, and it was competitive, though Golovkin won. Golovkin certainly didn't look like a monster in that fight - and he didn't have to, to deserve the win.

But Golovkin then looked like 'his old self' again against Martyrosian, who is a level below Canelo, Jacobs and also 2016 Brook.

The level of opposition matters. Most fighters, even great ones, don't look lights out when they face opposition that is on 'their' level.

 

Age, mileage and opponents size, injuries etc too does matters.
The same Floyd Jr had higher KO wins percentage before he get hands injuries, later again, when he moved up in weight classes and was older, stoppages happened not that often.
DLH too had long and impressive streak with wins in title fights, then he get older. DLH retired when he was 36.

 

Jacobs elite ... Lmao Jesus christ... GGG was past it against Jacobs that's why Jacobs was willing to take the fight.. Jacobs weighed in as cruiserweight and still got beat 8-4 by GGG

 

Lol no Golovkin speed of foot and hand in addition to timing was not there as early as the Martin Murray fight if not earlier.

And your comparison with Vanes is absolutely not a fair one. This was a clear one sided affair because Vanes was 34 moving up to fight at 160 whilst simultaneously being two years out of the ring. Have some context, please.

 

He busted Brooks face to a TKO in less than half of the scheduled rounds.

Bringing that up as a poor performance or as evidence of slipping is ridiculous. It's on the level of "Ricky Hatton was winning if you pretend the knockdowns didn't happen!" or "Amir Khan had his number (before getting destroyed by Garcia)!" Silly.

He looked worse when he fought better boxers. That's the case for almost everybody. Nothing any Golovkin fan or hater should be arguing with there.

 

Froch destroyed Bute at 35 and after that he went on to beat Kessler and Groves twice. He won the rematch against Groves more decisively when he was 37. He definitely was not past prime at 35 and neither was Calzaghe whose punch output was at an all time high against Jone Jr when he was pushing 37.

Golovkin looked different against Canelo because he had to change his tactics. He couldn't let roundhouses fly against Canelo like he did against Geale , Rubio etc.
He looked slow because Canelo is and would always be much faster than him.

 

C'mon, you can't use Calzaghe's output against a shot-to-**** Jones as proof he was prime by christ? That's just really taking liberties. Joe was prime against Lacy (even then his hands were not prime), arguably slightly on the decline against Kessler, and deffo past prime against B-Hop and Jones.

Froch though you make some good points, hard to argue he was past-prime vs Bute!

 

Well Calzaghe didn't look past prime as evidenced by his speed of foot , hands and punch output. Past primers don't perform like that.

Sergio Martinez produced his best performance at 36 against Chavez Jr.

35 today isn't what 35 was 50 years ago. . And age doesn't = prime.

Just recently DeGale was washed up and retired by age 32. . Being 35 doesn't mean you are past prime. . Look how well Arroela just performed at 40

 

Think he was slipping - his punches looked slow and like he was having to really force them out. Didn't look very fluid - although part of that could be attributed to Canelo. The Brook fight was the last time prime GGG entered the ring for me.

 

Golovkin was perhaps leaving his prime at 35 and a year later at 36, not entirely sure, but he still looked formidable.

I'm pretty sure he won at least 14 of the 24 rounds he boxed against Canelo.

 

Good points made, on a side note i think its important to mention the motivation factor for an older fighter. I believe if there is a nice carrot and motivating factor to light fire in the belly of an older fighter, he can produce a prime performance.

Big money and titles being the main motivating force here, with the acception of few fighters who just love the sport for some strange reason and still kill themselves at an older age and perform at high levels into their 40s.

Gggs main motivation vs canelo was most likely his biggest payday to date, and fear of losing his titles to a carrot farmer which would incur mass ridicule in his native Kazakhstan. Red head children are frowned apon and beaten in that neck of the woods.

 

Definitely not in prime, but still won

 

Past it

 

I think he was just starting the decent off of his peak but he was still in prime time shape and in the 2nd fight held his own in that decline