Gennadiy Golovkin invaded the United States and became the face of the middleweight division for most of the last decade. Coining phrases like “Mexican-style” and “Big Drama Show”, Golovkin was an entertaining fighter, who had catchy one-liners not unlike a prime Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying ‘I’ll be back’, and was one of the last stars of the HBO Boxing era before they left the sport of boxing for good.
A fighter who spent a good portion of his early career overseas fighting in Germany, relocated to Big Bear Lake, California, and began training with Abel Sanchez, bring his WBA middleweight world title with him. Golovkin debuted on HBO Boxing in July of 2012 against Grzegorz Proksa, a fight that he mostly took for the opportunity to be seen. What happened next was HBO Boxing firmly getting behind Gennadiy Golovkin as he became one of the featured athletes of the network. By the time, Golovkin fought Marco Antonio Rubio at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, Golovkin would filled up the venue with 9,323 fans in attendance to see him stop Rubio in the second round.
It felt as though not just was a star born, but a west coast star was born.
Golovkin’s fight against Willie Monroe Jr. on May 16th, 2015, was probably the apex mountain of Golovkin’s achievement both in the ring and in terms of popularity in the Los Angeles market, as 12,372 filled up The Forum in Inglewood, California. Not unlike Marvin Hagler, who became the fifth sporting franchise for Boston, Mass in his prime, Golovkin felt like an adopted sports entity that all of Los Angeles got behind.
The fight saw Golovkin stop Willie Monroe Jr., who is the great-nephew of Willie “The Worm” Monroe, who defeated Marvin Hagler, in six rounds. Golovkin would drop Monroe twice in round two before the bout was halted in the sixth.
Golovkin landed 133 of 297 punches which was a staple of his career, despite being labeled a puncher due to his God-given physical strength, Golovkin was a mechanic and scientist in the ring as he didn’t miss all that much either.
Golovkin’s career would continue to trend upward as he would face David Lemieux on HBO pay-per-view after this fight and then claim three of the four major middleweight titles of the era, the IBF, WBA, and WBC middleweight titles when he defeated Daniel Jacobs in 2017. Golovkin’s career arguably hit a stall when he fought Canelo Alvarez to a draw and then lost the rematch, as he never seemingly was the same after that fight both in and out of the ring.
Monroe, on the other hand, would suffer his second defeat as a pro, and struggle with activity. Monroe Jr.’s last extremely relevant fight was against Billy Joe Saunders in 2017, in which he would lose by unanimous decision. Monroe Jr has not fought since 2019.
Golovkin’s Path After Monroe Jr.
Golovkin was at a point in his career in which he looked the part of the best middleweight of his era, and was targeting the crown of undisputed middleweight champion of the world.
Golovkin was the rare boxing superstar who traveled to two fights after stopping Monroe Jr., he fought Kell Brook in the O2 Arena in London, England. In his following bout, after stopping Brook, Golovkin would defeat Daniel Jacobs on pay-per-view, but could never land a fight with Billy Joe Saunders for the WBO middleweight title to earn the undisputed label.
Golovkin became the people’s champion, as cliche as it sounds. Golovkin was embraced by the people of Los Angeles, and regarded as one of, if not the best middleweight of the modern era, as Golovkin continued to look for his ‘big fight’ with either Sergio Martinez, Miguel Cotto, or Canelo Alvarez. Golovkin would inevitably land the fight with Canelo, but it was drawn out and took a long time to conclude, as the trilogy that started in 2017 took five years and one global pandemic later, to finish.
The aftermath of Golovkin vs. Monroe Jr.
Once the smoke had cleared and despite some observers feeling that Golovkin was 2-1 with Canelo in the way they scored the bout, the record books clearly stated 2-0-1 in Canelo’s favor. This brutal dose of reality seemingly has left a bitter taste in Golovkin’s mouth for the sport of boxing as after the second Canelo fight, Golovkin left his trainer during his prime, Abel Sanchez began to work with Jonathan Banks.
Golovkin’s final years as a pro would be best described as secretive. It seemed the enthusiasm he once had for boxing was gone, the politics had aged him and burnt him out. As it was once put to me, Golovkin after the second Canelo fight was what Marvin Hagler would have been if he had kept boxing after the “Sugar” Ray Leonard fight.
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