Golovkin and Wade are set for Saturday night’s showdown on HBO.
By: Victor Garcia, Head RCM Boxing Rankings Panelist
Inglewood, Ca (April 22, 2016)- Boxing is back at The Forum in Inglewood, California, where two undefeated fighters, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) and Dominic Wade (18-0, 12 KOs) come face-to-face in a IBF Middleweight Title bout.
After defeating David Lemieux back in October and winning the IBF middleweight title, Golovkin faces his mandatory challenger, Dominic Wade. Although Dominic is aware of his underdog status, he is not intimidated by Golovkin’s knockout ratio and thinks he has what it takes to defeat the most feared man in boxing. Wade’s last fight was a controversial win over Sam Soliman who out landed Wade. Golovkin has knocked out 31 of his 34 opponents, and to most boxing fans, Wade will be just another victim. Golovkin has fought descent competition -at least that is how he makes them look- but no one can blame the man, since no one that is considered “top competition” has stepped up to the plate and accepted the challenge. One particular name that keeps coming up to be the best challenger is, Mexican superstar and the lineal middleweight champion, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Alvarez has shown some interest in the fight, but he is not pushing for it. If Golovkin defeats Wade Saturday night, the pressure will continue to grow on Canelo to make the fight happen. Gennady is running out of competition, and a fight against Alvarez is what the boxing world needs, but before that even happens, Golovkin’s eyes are on what is in front of him, and that is Dominic Wade. The mandatory challenger is who stands in the way of the knock out artist. If Golovkin wants the bigger and better challenges, he needs to continue to do what he does best; make statements with his skills and power. The fight will be televised live on HBO, at 7 PM PT.
Gonzalez vs Arroyo
The co-main event of the night will feature The Ring Magazine and Real Combat Media pound-for-pound champion, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez {44-0, 38 KOs) when he defends his WBC flyweight title against Puerto Rican fighter, McWilliams Arroyo (16-2, 14 KOs).
Gonzalez’s last fight was against Brian Viloria, who is a much more competitive fighter than Arroyo. This bout is more of a stay busy fight for Roman, since he’s been absent from the ring since last October. Arroyo’s last title fight was for the IBF world flyweight championship. He lost to Ammat Ruenroeng, back in 2014. Although Arroyo has fought for a world title, his level is not even close to Roman, and for that, the P4P king has gotten a little criticism for the lack of competition. Gonzalez can definitely change that up if he were to move up in weight or fight in a rematch with Mexican fighter, Francisco “Gallito” Estrada, for a flyweight unification title bout. This fight would make a lot more sense, especially since Gonzalez wants to headline his own fights. A rematch would be huge, but until then, Gonzalez will have to decide what will be the path he would want to take after his mismatch fight with Arroyo
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