Gennadiy Golovkin was only beaten, controversially, by one man, but could’ve found himself beltless after facing disqualification in his 19th world title defense.
Gennadiy Golovkin was beaten clearly by Canelo in his most recent and final fight in 2022, but the pair’s trilogy began with a not-so-clear decision as the Mexican controversially drew with the Kazakh, and then controversially beat him in their rematch.
Some suggest Daniel Jacobs beat Golovkin in their match, as Jacobs became the first man to take GGG the 12-round distance.
But there was one other instance where Golovkin seemed close to losing his belts, not through lack of skill, but through a case of poor timing.
Gennadiy Golovkin struck Vanes Martirosyan as his knee touched the canvas
In 2018, Golovkin made his 19th defense of his WBA Super world middleweight title, his 17th defense of his IBO title, and his fourth defense of his WBC title.
He was defending the belts against 36-3-1 Vanes Martirosyan, having come off his draw with Canelo one fight earlier.
Martirosyan had previously lost by unanimous decision to Jermell Charlo and Erislandy Lara, and came close to beating Demetrius Andrade, but lost on a split decision.
The fight didn’t last long, as Golovkin, who KO’d Willie Monroe, proved to be levels above, though Martirosyan could’ve won, had a more conservative referee been involved.
The reason is that, as Golovkin, who almost fought Chris Eubank Jr., overwhelmed Martirosyan in the second round, he landed a solid right hook on the Armenian as his left knee touched the canvas, therefore breaking the rules. It is, of course, against the rules to strike a downed fighter, and Golovkin came ever-close to being disqualified for his action that night.
Martirosyan took his first KO loss and has not fought since.
Gennadiy Golovkin defeated Joseph Parker’s coach in the amateurs
Golovkin was an extremely accomplished amateur, having won 345 of his 350 fights. He was a silver medalist at the 2004 Athens games. Golovkin has saved Olympic boxing from the chopping block since retiring from the sport, and remains heavily involved in the sport.
It was during his amateur campaign that Golovkin, who brutally beat Gabriel Rosado, met Andy Lee, a fighter who would go on to be a champion and then an elite trainer.
Lee currently trains Joseph Parker, Paddy Donovan, Hamzah Sheeraz, and Ben Whittaker.
Golovkin beat Lee at the 2003 AIBA world championship preliminaries.