Gennady Golovkin

Gennadiy Golovkin
Геннадий Головкин
Golovkin in 2017
Born
Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin

(1982-04-08) 8 April 1982 (age 42)
Karaganda, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
(now Karaganda, Kazakhstan)
NationalityKazakhstani
Other namesGGG ("Triple G")
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 10+12 in (179 cm)[1]
Reach70 in (178 cm)[1]
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights45
Wins42
Wins by KO37
Losses2
Draws1
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Kazakhstan
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens Middleweight
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2003 Bangkok Middleweight
Junior World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2000 Budapest Light welterweight
World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2002 Astana Light middleweight
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Moscow Middleweight
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2002 Busan Light middleweight
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2004 Puerto Princesa Middleweight
East Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2001 Osaka Welterweight

Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin (Cyrillic: Генна́дий Генна́дьевич Голо́вкин; also spelled Gennady;[2] born 8 April 1982), often known by his nickname "GGG" or "Triple G", is a Kazakhstani professional boxer. He has held multiple middleweight world championships, and is a two-time former unified champion. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super version), World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles at varying points between 2014 and 2023, and challenged once for the undisputed super middleweight championship in 2022. He is also a former International Boxing Organization (IBO) middleweight champion, having held the title twice between 2011 and 2023.

Golovkin was ranked as the world's best boxer, pound for pound, from September 2017 to September 2018 by The Ring magazine. He was also ranked as the world's best active middleweight by The Ring,[3] Transnational Boxing Rankings Board,[4] ESPN,[5] and BoxRec.[6]

In 2010, Golovkin won the WBA interim middleweight title by defeating Milton Núñez. The WBA elevated him to Regular champion status in the same year. He won the IBO title the following year. In 2014, Golovkin was elevated to the status of WBA (Super) champion and successfully defended both his titles against Daniel Geale. Later that year he defeated Marco Antonio Rubio to win WBC interim middleweight title, and defeated David Lemieux for the IBF middleweight title in 2015. After Canelo Álvarez vacated his WBC middleweight title in 2016, Golovkin was elevated to full champion and held three of the four major world titles in boxing. Golovkin lost all his titles, including his undefeated record, following a loss to Álvarez in 2018. He regained his IBF and IBO titles by defeating Sergiy Derevyanchenko in 2019, and regained his WBA (Super) title by defeating Ryōta Murata in 2022.

A calculating pressure fighter, Golovkin is known for his exceptionally powerful and precise punching, balance, and methodical movement inside the ring. With a streak of 23 knockouts that spanned from 2008 to 2016, he holds the highest knockout-to-win ratio – 88.1% – in middleweight championship history.[7] Golovkin is also said to have one of the most durable chins in boxing history, having never been knocked down or otherwise stopped in a total of 395 fights, 45 as a professional and 350 as an amateur.

In his amateur career, Golovkin won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 2003 World Championships. He went on to represent Kazakhstan at the 2004 Summer Olympics, winning a middleweight silver medal. Golovkin was appointed President of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2024.

  1. ^ a b DAZN tale of the tape prior to the third Canelo Álvarez fight.
  2. ^ Mannix, Chris (7 June 2019). "Gennadiy Golovkin Looks to Begin a New Era vs. Steve Rolls at MSG". SI.
  3. ^ "Middleweight Ratings - The Ring". The Ring. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Middleweight Rankings – Transnational Boxing Rankings Board". Transnational Boxing Rankings Board Rankings. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Divisional rankings -- The best top 10 fighters per division". ESPN.com. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  6. ^ "BoxRec: Middleweight Ratings". BoxRec. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Highest boxing knockout percentage by a middleweight champion". Guinness World Records. Jim Pattison Group. Retrieved 1 January 2024.