20 little-known facts about Gennady Golovkin

17. Golovkin iced Lucian Bute at the 2003 World Amateur Championships

Continuing with the themes of elite professionals that Gennady Golovkin bested in the unpaid ranks, the Kazakh’s one-punch knockout of Lucian Bute stands out as one of his most impressive and explosive wins. This emphatic victory came at the 2003 World Amateur Championships where Golovkin also outclassed Andy Lee (29-9) on his way to claiming gold.

Like Andre Dirrell, Bute would campaign north of Golovkin in the paid ranks; however, unlike Dirrell, Bute would go on to win a world championship belt as a pro, claiming the IBF super middleweight title in 2007 with a knockout of Alejandro Berrio. Bute made nine successful defenses of his strap before getting bludgeoned in a marquee unification clash against Carl Froch in a bout that saw Bute, stung by criticism of being a protected champion, travel to the Englishman’s backyard.

Golovkin’s knockout of Bute was an early sign of “Le Tombeur’s” fragility, which was most recently on display in a stoppage loss to Eleider Alvarez — although that defeat did follow two relatively heroic efforts, later marred by a positive test for Ostarine, against James DeGale and Badou Jack. And yet, Bute became a major attraction in his adopted home of Montreal and made a splash on the world scene several years before Golovkin even had his American debut.

That said, comparing Golovkin and Bute is the perfect juxtaposition of the premise of “levels” at the elite level. Bute was indeed a world class fighter and viable champion, but a long title reign does not a pound-for-pound stalwart make. Bute was excellent, but Gennady Golovkin is special. While one could argue that they both, in their own ways, suffered due to their level of opposition, Golovkin, unlike Bute, has exhibited unflinching dominance.