will golovkin be one of the great ones?

Worked for Hagler (and Hopkins, for a long time).

 

No, he'll be great dominating his own weight class.

 

His division is one of the weakest in boxing. Has no problem chasing 168ers who are poor and on the verge of retirement, but had no time for the best at the weight. Yeah, a ture ATG

 

I don't give a toss about the 168 division when assessing a middleweight champion. 168 didn't even exist in the days of Monzon and hardly existed in the days of Hagler. So it's fair to say it's no more relevant to Golovkin than it is to them.

It's ironic that you're giving so much credit to Ward. Look at what he's done since beating Froch in 2011.
Anyway if Golovkin followed Ward's lead he'd be asking Ward to drain down to 160. :deal

 

After the upcoming unifications there is some quality defenses to be made with the prospects who will start becoming contenders or 154's moving up. Andrade, Lara, Derevyanchenko, Murata, Magomedov, Khytrov, Quigley.

That in addition to a few among Lemieux, Canelo, Lee, Jacobs/Quillin (unlikely), Saunders, Korobov, Johnson is the best this era has to offer and would make for a very solid reign. Not exceptional but damn respectable. Needs to stay active fighting 3-4 times a year for the next few.

 

Not a bad strategy that. I do feel he may have to seek greener pastures that what is available at 160 in the long run.

 

It's funny people telling Golovkin to move up, complaining that there's no one at middleweight.
But if Golovkin moved up the division would be even worse. I'd much rather see a good fighter dominate a weak division and unify the titles than watch a bunch of weak paper champions passing multiple belts around.

 

In any event, not every good fighter is destined to attain that mythical status of 'ATG'...does it really matter ultimately?

I like the guy; reminds me a little of a middleweight Chavez...that same friendly, choirboy look, that same destructive hook to the body, that same seek n' destroy mindset. Lots to like.
But honestly, I'm just enjoying watching each fight he has. People are too damn hung up on a MYTHICAL status.

 

Well said. :good

 

Lets assess it.

Where are Martin Murrary and Daniel Geale in the P4P rankings?:rofl

Little Cotto stopped Geale earlier and Murrary has the gonads GGG doesn't by moving up to a better division.

Nobody would be talking about Hopkins if he called it a day after the Hoya fight.

GGG has done nothing to be considered a great.

Zsolt erdei has more claim to greatness than 3G.

ATGs are P4P ranked fighters. Not giving a toss about just one division north when he is calling out lower guys left right and centre is not looking at this guy from an ATG perspective.

There's standards , criteria and achievements to be checked. ATG accolades aren't handed out like soup.

 

Its only fair to former authentic greats that not every body who comes along on a winning streak becomes an ATG.

 

I don't know. People still talk about Eusebio Pedroza and even Ricardo Lopez, and yes, Hopkins would be in the conversation if he'd quit after the ODLH fight.

I'm not saying Golovkin is an ATG, but if he carries on racking up wins and unifies the title and dominating his challengers, he's in the discussion.

 

But Hopkins run at MW has never been viewed as a great one. Its even mentioned by a poster in page 1 of this thread.

GGG has an opportunity to boost his legacy and remaining to exploit a weak division isn't how you do it.

Hearns, Leonard , Duran etc etc all moved up multiple division seeking out better fights.

3G can't even move up one?:-(

You can't compare village bandits to people who brought down Empires.

 

Difference between Hopkins' run and Golovkin's was extremely marginal. Feasted on mediocre guys and undersized little guys moving up in weight for paydays.

 

Hagler and Hopkins didn't move up any. Hagler spent the early 80s beating up on very basic, unimpressive overmatched middleweights and the mid-80s fighting rising welterweights instead of calling out the top light-heavies. I don't fault him for it but let's be consistent.