By William Trillo
Photos: Melina Pizano/Matchroom & Michael Owens/Matchroom
As the story goes, it was in the 16th century that Spanish explorer Ponce De Leon went to Florida in search of “The Fountain Of Youth”. His search came up empty. But…some 500 years later while on his travels to Florida it appears Gennady Golovkin has not only found, but drank from the elusive regenerating fountain.
After a fourteen-month absence from the ring the big question to be answered was whether or not “Father Time” had finally caught up up with GGG. Maybe he was now only a shell of his former self.
That notion was laid to rest on Friday night as Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KO’s) looked to be in the best physical condition of his life as he took on the mandatory challenger Kamil Szeremeta (21-1-1, 5 KO’s) in defense of GGG’s IBO and IBF middleweight belts.
Looking like a man on a mission Golovkin opened the show working behind a stiff left jab that opened the door for unrelenting punishment that he would hand to Szeremeta all night. Before the round would come to its conclusion a left hand delivered by GGG sent Szeremeta crashing to the canvas. He arose to finish the round but it would be far from the last time Szeremeta would kiss the mat again.
In round two Golovkin stayed the course using that stunning jab once again as he was making easy work of the overmatched Szeremeta. With 30 seconds left in the round GGG uncorked a right hand that sent Szeremeta down. The tough fighter would again get to his feet and finish the round.
A left hand uppercut did the huge damage for Golovkin in round four. Szeremeta never saw it coming and again he was getting acquainted with the canvas.
Golovkin appeared to take his foot off the pedal for a round. For what it’s worth it gave Szeremeta a chance to save face, but with no power in his punches to get the attention of GGG his minimal efforts went all for naught.
To put an exclamation on the night as round seven was just one-minute old Golovkin used one of those piston-like jabs to set Szeremeta down on the seat of his pants once again. Over the course of the remaining two minutes of the round GGG was dominant. He battered his foe from pillar to post. To his credit a tough Szeremeta was able to weather the storm and he survived another round.
With discretion now being the better part of valor the corner of Szeremeta said their fighter had enough. With that the ref waved the fight of in between rounds seven and eight.
With the victory Golovkin had now defended his title for the 21st time but more importantly he catapulted himself into some very high-profile fights for 2021. DAZN was already laying bait for a Cinco De Mayo bout against Canelo Alvarez, who by the way is conveniently fighting 24 hours after Golovkin proved he is still a very worthy and credible foe.
When Golovkin was asked about his performance after the fight he stated, “This was a great show! A great event! I am still a very smart fighter. I was very comfortable in the ring. I did good smart work tonight.”
When asked what is next for him GGG smiled and said, “I am open for anybody! And trust me it will be the best fight next time!”
The boxing world can only speculate as to what Golovkin means when he says “best fight.”
Over the next few days it’s a sure bet armchair cornermen and naysayers will question the worthiness of Golovkin’s opposition in Szeremeta. Was he strong enough? Was he talented enough? But the fact will remain that Szeremeta was the mandatory challenger for GGG and the Champion did what he had to in order to defend his crown.
Over the last year Golovkin was flying well below the radar, a blip on the screen so to speak. But after one drink from that mythical fountain Golovkin’s impressive performance has reminded us all that he still is one of the top fighters in the world and well worth the price of admission.
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