{"id":1946,"date":"2016-04-11T22:10:43","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T15:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alphapro.com\/funhouse\/?p=1946"},"modified":"2025-01-18T11:03:35","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T04:03:35","slug":"boxing-golden-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alphapro.com\/funhouse\/2016\/04\/11\/boxing-golden-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a New Boxing Golden Age upon us?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Andre
My interest in Andre Ward started when I first saw him play a small part in the latest Sylvester Stallone movie, “Creed”. There were perhaps a half dozen professional fighters in the movie, but right now Andre Ward is knocking on the door of\u00a0the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three talented\u00a0champion boxers,\u00a0Sergey Kovalev<\/a>, Andre Ward<\/a>, and Gennady Golovkin<\/a>, seem destined to bring the Boxing Golden Age \u00a0back. \u00a0\u00a0If they do, the Boxing Golden Age might even have to be redefined.<\/p>\n

During the 1960’s and 70’s the Heavy weight division in particular was extremely talented. Sonny Liston,<\/a> Muhammed Ali,<\/a> Joe Frazier<\/a>, Ken Norton<\/a>, and George Foremen<\/a> were the creme de la creme in those days with Muhammed Ali becoming the undisputed \u201cGreatest\u201d, beating all of them. Ali was the most charismatic heavy weight champion of all time. He was perhaps the smartest heavy weight champion who ever lived even though he ranked just 376 out of his high school class of 391 and finished with a D- average. He was named the “BBC” and “Sports Illustrated” Sportsman of the Century. So how does one eclipse the Boxing Golden Age when Ali reigned as the king of kings?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the combined records of this hugely talented three some of 92 wins and zero losses.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s put some Cold War anti Soviet Union rhetoric into this mix.<\/h3>\n

Andre Ward\u2019s American. Sergey Kovalev is Russian. Gennady Golovkin\u2019s from Kazakhstan. So he\u2019s not Russian. But since\u00a0Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union before 1991, I can easily imagine myself rooting against Golovkin as an evil Soviet bastard fighting for the glory of the Evil Empire. \u00a0Keep this thought in mind now\u2013evil Soviet bastards fighting for the glory of the Evil Empire as I paint menacing pictures of both Sergei Kovalev and Gennady Golovkin.<\/p>\n

\"Sergey
If the Russian Light Heavyweight champion looks like an American country boy, there’s good reason for the resemblance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kovalev is the reigning light heavyweight champion with a record of 30-29-1 with 27 of those wins by knockout.<\/h3>\n

He\u2019s a killer in the ring. \u00a0Kovalev has a one track mind that focuses on the total destruction of his opponent. And he\u2019s not a native English speaker which makes him nothing more than a primitive lout with a devastating punch that can level buildings.<\/p>\n

\"Gennady
Respectfully, Andre Ward called Gennady Golovkin a pretty boy. Andre meant this as a statement of fact—“Gennady is after all a handsome man”. So it’s hard to believe that Gennady oftentimes sticks his head right in front of his opponent enticing him to give him “his best shot” so that Gennady can get in a punishing counter punch. IT is also hard to believe Golovkin has knocked out his last 20 opponents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gennady Golovkin\u2019s even more menacing with a perfect record of 34-0 including 31 knockouts, without even a tie to blemish his record.<\/h3>\n

Even more depressing is he\u2019s knocked out the last 20 of his opponents which makes him super inhuman. Although he\u2019s fast and has impressive boxing skills, Golovkin\u2019s attitude seems to be \u201cWhy bother\u201d as he wades right into his opponents as he heedlessly ignores\u00a0the punches pounding his face.<\/p>\n

\"Andre
Although not renowned for his knockout punch, Andre Ward is a strong boxer, and has recently shown he can throw his weight around quite well on the inside even after moving up from the Super Middleweight class to the Light Heavyweight division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So who\u2019s the good guy in this bunch? That would be Andre Ward,<\/h3>\n

a man who used to be the Super Middleweight champion who had his title stripped from him because of inactivity in the ring due to injuries and disputes with his manager. \u00a0Ward has movie star credentials as evidenced in his role in the latest Sylvester Stallone Rocky movie, \u201cCreed\u201d. His record is 29-0 with just 15 knockouts. But he\u2019s a brilliant ring tactician who simply doesn\u2019t make any mistakes.<\/p>\n

Until that layoff that led to the ring stripping him of his title Ward was ranked the second best pound for pound fighter in the world. (Now he\u2019s ranked only number 4 with Golovkin being ranked number 3) They call him SOG\u2013Son of God. He\u2019s articulate, and he\u2019s a total gentleman. He\u2019s the perfect representative for the U.S.A. and everything that\u2019s good in this land of freedom of ours against those louts from the former Soviet Onion (makes my nose wrinkle in disgust even thinking about them).<\/p>\n