Gennady Golovkin destroyed another opponent this past weekend but must knock off at least one high-profile opponent to enter the stratosphere of THE RING Ratings.
Bob Arum said Julio Cesar Chavez could fight Brian Vera next, and eventually, Andre Ward.
Ring Ratings Update: It's not Golovkin's time to rise quite yet
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Middleweight contender Gennady Golovkin’s third-round knockout of unrated Makoto Fuchigami on Saturday in Ukraine sparked an interesting discussion. Golovkin, rated No. 8 by THE RING, probably is better than his rating. I think it’s safe to say that most experts see the hard-punching native of Kazakhstan as a Top 5 talent – and maybe better than that. One knowledgable observer equated the buzz surrounding Golovkin with that which we once associated with the late Edwin Valero. However, Golovkin (23-0, 20 knockouts) doesn’t have a great resume. His knockouts of Kassim Ouma and Lajuan Simon are probably the biggest of his career. Those are solid victories but nothing more. Plus, although he holds the WBA’s 160-pound “world” title, everyone knows it’s utterly worthless because Felix Sturm is the sanctioning body's “super world” titleholder. So the question was: Do we elevate Golovkin after another dominating victory over a marginal opponent because of his obvious talent or wait until he takes down a top-tier foe? THE RING Editorial Board decided to wait. We believe Golovkin has pound-for-pound ability but he needs demonstrate that against a Felix Sturm, Daniel Geale, Dmitry Pirog or the like. Thus, he remains at No. 8. Golovkin is a fresh 30. He has time. RING RATINGS UPDATE Light heavyweight: Adrian Diaconu (No. 5 last week) drops out after announcing his retirement. Juergen Braehmer (38-2, 30 KOs) of Germany enters at No. 10. Junior bantamweight: Tomas Rojas (No. 7 last week) drops out because he has fought as a junior featherweight in his last two fights. He is replaced by Carlos Cuadras (24-0, 20 KOs) of Mexico at No. 10. Flyweight: Brian Viloria (No. 2 last week) holds his position after stopping Omar Nino in nine rounds Sunday in the Philippines. Julio Cesar Miranda (No. 7 last week) drops out after losing a unanimous decision to Rodel Mayol in a junior bantamweight fight Sunday in the Philippines. Juan Carlos Reveco (No. 9 last week) leapfrogs Luis Concepcion (No. 8 last week) into the No. 7 position after his impressive onesided decision over then-unbeaten Karim Guerfi on Friday in Argentina. And Edgar Sosa (45-7, 27 KOs) of Mexico enters at No. 10.
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Rated fighters in action this coming weekend (with current ratings) |