Gennady Golovkin Avoidance Indicative Of Changing Times

GGG Avoidance Indicative Of Changing Times
By: Sean Crose

So…here we are. It’s nearly Christmas and the needlessly long awaited not-so-super bout between Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs has yet to be made. And, truth be told, I’m not sure it ever will be. Perhaps it’s the fault of team Jacobs. Then again, perhaps not. Here’s the truth, though, something is rotten when it comes to the Kazakh terror. Sometimes fights between top names don’t get made. Yet when it comes to GGG, fights with top names never seem to get made. Jacobs? We’ll see. Canelo? Let’s put it off. Saunders? LOLS all around.

To be sure, the only top name willing to fight GGG, aside from David Lemieux (and we all know how that turned out) was welterweight boss Kell Brook (and we all know how that turned out, too). I’m not pointing fingers here, but the whole thing doesn’t pass the smell test. GGG is being ducked, or put off big time. Perhaps not by everyone, but at least by one or two name fighters. I know intelligent people are apt argue the point with me to death, but intelligent people can also argue with me that the sun doesn’t set in the West. That doesn’t mean I can’t draw a conclusion from the evidence before me.

I think this ultimately all might have something to do with the fact that the times are changing. As scary as he is, Golovkin isn’t nearly as frightening as

Tyson was in his prime. Yet no top names seem to have avoided the guy they called the baddest man on the planet. To the contrary – names like Holyfield, Holmes, and Lewis couldn’t wait to meet up in the ring with the guy. Today’s fighters, however, appear to be different. There doesn’t seem to be any shame involved with staying clear of someone who just might be better. Ducking and boxing have gone hand in hand for ages, sure, but to this degree? You don’t need to be the type who luxuriates in melodrama to recognize both a pattern and a problem here.

And guess what? People are going to continue avoiding boxing. What’s more, more and more people are going to step away from it in the future. Never have I seen as many people openly stating online that they’re done with the sport or that they’re “going over” to MMA. People these individuals are simply blowing off steam, but the sheer quantity of steam being blown off lately should be alarming. Besides, ratings and pay per view numbers don’t lie. People are tuning out.

It may take a change in mindset within the sport itself to ever bring them back.