GGG is back! This Saturday he brings his fearsome power in against Edmond Tarverdyan trainee Vanes Martirosyan live on HBO.
Saturday is a fun day for boxing. We’ve already outlined the David Haye vs. Tony Bellew rematch – now we switch gears to HBO and Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1; 33 KOs) vs. Vanes Martirosyan (36-3-1; 21 KOs). This was originally scheduled as GGG vs. Canelo II, but some drug testing issues for Canelo changed those plans. The fight is for Golovkin’s WBA and WBC (and IBO, but who cares?) Middleweight titles. It takes place this Saturday, May 5 at the StubHub Center and airs live on HBO with a fight time of 11:00 p.m. ET.
How do these two stack up?
Golovkin: 36 years old | 5’10” | 70″ reach | orthodox stance
Martirosyan: 32 years old | 5’11″ | 70″ reach | orthodox stance
What have these two done recently?
Golovkin: D – Canelo Alvarez (SD) | W – Daniel Jacobs (UD) | W – Kell Brook (TKO)
Martirosyan: L – Erislandy Lara (UD) | W – Ishe Smith (MD) | L – Jermell Charlo (UD)
How did these two get here?
Gennady Golovkin spent the past few years crushing overmatched opponents at every stage. And they weren’t always overmatched because of cheap, gimme matchmaking – they were overmatched because Golovkin was that much better. Last September he finally got the big Canelo fight he had long been angling for. GGG took that fight to Canelo, seemed to win, but managed to only walk away with a draw, because boxing. He was ready to right that wrong here, but has to settle for Martirosyan instead.
Vanes Martirosyan is a tough fighter with 13 years pro experience. He’s been in there with some high quality opposition, and his losses only come against top level fighters: Demetrius Andrade, Jermell Charlo, and, in his last fight, Erislandy Lara. But he has some real deficits here – he’s never beaten a fighter at that level, with his biggest wins coming against Ishe Smith and Willie Nelson, and he’s been inactive for two years. He’s also training under Edmond Tarverdyan now. Yes, you read that right.
What can fans expect?
This is a sort of pre-Canelo throwback fight for GGG. He’s expected to roll through Martirosyan here, and he likely will. That said, it’s worth noting that Golovkin did not look his absolute best against either Brook or Jacobs. He got the job done, but those fights made it clear he was past his very best – you have to go back to Dominic Wade in April 2016 to see the full power of super-destroyer GGG. At 36 years old, the time will come soon when Golovkin falls, and probably falls hard. But it’s highly unlikely Martirosyan is the one to make that happen.
Prediction: Gennady Golovkin, KO R3
Who should watch?
An old-school GGG smashing AND corner advice from Edmond? Watch this!