Pound for pound update January 2020: a new name at the top

7. Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin

Record: 40-1-1, 35 KOs

Previous ranking: 6

Some may question how one of the most dominant champions in middleweight history, who had a 23 fight knockout streak and defended his belt 20 times, ranks at No. 7 on this list. Coupled with these wins, the only blemishes on his record are a highly controversial draw, and a razor close decision loss to Canelo.

However, the facts of the matter is, he has not been the same killer the last few years. In his last six fights, his record is 4-1-1, but two of those wins were just stay busy fights against Steve Rolls and Vanes Martirosyan. His other two wins are against Daniel Jacobs and Sergiy Derevyanchenko, both of which were very close.

In his last fight against Derevyanchenko, GGG looked flat, slow and frankly, old. Derevyanchenko was able to get his punches off first, and appeared to be faster than Golovkin. While GGG was still able to earn a decision win, the fight truly could have have gone either way, just as his second fight with Canelo.

Following that fight, it appears that GGG’s window is almost completely shut. All of his previous fights against top fighters in the division have been close, but GGG looked like himself, just against a great opponent. However, in the Derevyanchenko fight, it was the first time that he looked like a lesser version of himself.

There is some uncertainty as to where Golovkin goes from here. He is clearly still one of the best fighters at 160, but it seems he has fallen back into to the pack at a time where Canelo has separated himself from the pack.

It is obvious that DAZN would love to make a rubber match with Canelo, and it would be a fun fight to watch (just as their first two fights were), but frankly, it does not seem as though it would be all that competitive.

Canelo is in his prime and getting better every fight, whereas GGG’s window is closing and almost entirely shut. If the GGG that showed up against Derevyanchenko came to the Canelo fight, he gets stomped.

A more intriguing fight would be a fight with Jermall Charlo. Many view Jermall as the better of the Charlo brothers, and has the talent to eventually be on this list. However, he is relatively unproven, and has not yet taken a step up to the top level of opposition.

A fight with GGG would be the perfect opportunity to get a big name on his resume, as well as give us a measure of just how good Charlo is.

Two years ago, GGG would have been expected to win via knockout. Now, it’s veering towards pick ’em fight that will most likely not happen. But we can dream.