Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin was a knockout machine and became the first man to stop the latest in a line of accomplished boxers.
Gennady Golovkin has seemingly retired after suffering his second defeat at the hands of Canelo Alvarez in his last outing in 2022.
Golovkin has since saved Olympic boxing, and remains a key part in the amateur system, though is far removed from his days of knocking out everyone in his path.
One man who was on the wrong side of a KO against Golovkin was a man who came from three generations of fighters, and a descendant of a man who defeated a legend.
Gennady Golovkin knocked out Willie Monroe Jr., whose uncle, ‘The Worm’, beat Marvin Hagler
In 2015, with a record of 32-0, Golovkin faced 19-1 Willie Monroe Jr. for the interim WBC middleweight title. The title was not on the line for Monroe as he reportedly failed to comply with WBC rules ahead of the bout.
Monroe descended from a line of fighters, but was the first to fight for a world title. Monroe’s father was 24-4-2 Willie Lee Monroe, and his great-uncle was 40-10-1 Willie ‘The Worm’ Monroe, who beat Marvin Hagler in 1976, but lost to him in their two rematches.
Golovkin and Monroe went six rounds together, but Monroe failed to extend his family’s legend-slayer status, as he was stopped by ‘Triple G’.
Monroe retired in 2019 with a record of 24-3. He was also beaten by Billy Joe Saunders, though Golovkin was the only man to ever stop him.
Only three men have gone the 12-round distance with Gennady Golovkin
Golovkin’s reputation as a knockout machine is certainly not unfounded. In his 45-fight career, just five of his 42 wins have come by decision, and just two of those have occurred in 12-round fights.
In terms of going the full distance with Golovkin, only two men are able to say they’ve done it. The first is Daniel Jacobs, who came ever-close to defeating Golovkin in 2017, as he took him the distance for the first time, losing on tight scores of 114-113, 115-112, 115-112.
Golovkin, who almost fought Chris Eubank Jr., didn’t go the distance for two years after that, until he faced Sergiy Derevyanchenko, whom he beat by unanimous decision.
His only other opponent to go the full distance with him was Canelo.