People want to highlight the negatives, but forget how well he did in other aspects. We can nit pick every little thing about his performance, but in the end, won the fight by KO and did it dominantly. - His body shots were punishing. It was the body shots that constantly pushed Stevens into the ropes. It was also a body shot near the center of the ring that lead to the final sequence that stopped him. - His ability to cut off the ring was on full display again. Once he got Stevens to the ropes, he rarely let him out. Stevens was moving from one corner to the next with no escape route. Very few fighters can do what Golovkin does. - Subtle defensive techniques. People wondered why he was unmarked at the end of the fight despite getting tagged by Stevens. The reality is that not all of those punches landed flushed. Golovkin rolled with the punches and even blocked some of them with his shoulder. Some people credit his chin, but I think it's more than that. - His patience. Stevens could've been Golokin's Phillips (Tszyu), but he took his time and didn't attack the body until he knew it was safe. He didn't get too reckless and used the jab to set up his shots. - His stamina. 100 punches...no problem. After the 8th round, he didn't even look tired. His punches are economical and it doesn't waste a lot of energy even if he miss a punch.
Excellent points save for the phillips Tszyu analogy. I don't think there was any chance, after seeing the fight, that stevens could have won. prior to the fight I gave stevens a 35% chance of winning, but the skill level between GGG and Stevens was far far greater than Phillips-Tszyu
Golovkin did almost everything close to perfect. Sanchez did say that Golovkin did not fight like he wanted him, let his defense go out of anger, but who can complain about Golovkin's performance? Fantastic!!! Note: Golovkin's defense was still excellent!!!
More like an efficient but relentless demolition. If he sees a shortcut (a KO) that's all well and good, but if he has to just keep on tightening the screws until his opponent breaks, so be it.
People focussed on the negatives because we really didn't see anything new form Golovkin that we haven't seen before, his strengths are well known. His power is frightening, every time Stevens had any success he'd go up a gear and his power would have Stevens in a defensive shell. His body punching is very impressive, he never ignores the body. He is very economical with his punches, never wastes punchers yet still controls the pace of the fight. Golovkin showed a very good chin. Stevens is a decent puncher and yet Golovkin never looked bothered by any of his punches.
As always, he was extremely patient, he cut off the ring exceptionally well and he took most of Stevens' punches without much trouble. On the flipside, he got owned on the inside and got hit a little more than we are used to seeing. It also surprised me a bit that Golovkin was so wary of letting the uppercut go, due in no small part to Curtis' left hook counters. All in all, a good performance against a good middleweight but people need to keep things in perspective before asking for Golovkin-Froch.
