Greater: Donaire. I like GGG better but his opposition is trash. When the Technician is amongst your top wins, you know you are looking at a thin resume. Better: Probably GGG as I don't see him getting dominated as throughly as Donaire was vs Walter and Rogondeaux. But mighty few thought it would happen to Donaire while he was running through world champs after world champs...
We'll never know if Golov would have been dominated by bigger, quality fighters or not. Donaire had the nuts to move up and fight big time fighters - Borat did not.
Nonito's Unquestionably GREATER & BETTER, Based On Accomplishments @ More Than 1 Weight... In the Moment, REED Criticized GGG for Basically Putting His Career in NEUTRAL, Holding Out for Canelo, Facing SHIT Opposition As BEATABLE Opponents Held Belts @ '68...DeGale, Badou Jack, (maybe) Uzcategui and Others... Knowing Full Well Canelo was STALLING a Fight w/GGG @ the Time, REED Suggested a Pitstop @ '68 in the Interim...The Fact GGG Chose to COAST Instead - Waiting for Canelo - Proved to Be a Self Inflicted, Irrevocable WOUND On His Resume... Especially Considering the SPARRING Stories Linked to GGG, Back in the Day...Dropping the Bigger/Heavier Sergey Kovalev w/a Body Shot???...Having His Way w/Chavez Jr. @ Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym???...Comments Attributed to Carl Froch, etc.... GGG Could've Went STRAIGHT to Title Shots w/Anyone He Chose @ '68, As he Waited for Canelo... REED
Considering he Turned Pro Relatively LATE (Mid-20's), You'd Have Expected More of a BARNSTORMING, AMBITIOUS Approach from GGG... He Didn't Have to Remain @ '68 or Clean It Out, But Get A Title @ the Very Least...By Then, Given the Proximity to Light Heavy and the Sparring Stories, Maybe a Catchweight w/Kovalev Could've Been Negotiated???...Or One of the LESSER '75 Beltholders @ the Time... For Sure, HBO Would've Promoted the Shit Out of It...Instead They Had the "Pleasure" of Broadcasting GGG vs. Dominic Wade, Willie Monroe Jr. and a David Lemeuix PPV... REED
He unified titles against two of the next best opponents in his division after Canelo - that hardly seems like "coasting." On top of that, he did try to make a fight with Froch in 2015 (a far more dangerous opponent than the three SMWs you named) but Froch elected to retire instead. I think Donaire did far more harm to his legacy by getting thrashed in his first real megafight and then ballooning in weight afterward. I wouldn't rule out that he was a better fighter than G peak-for-peak, but G can at least claim to have outfought an ATG at least once (some people even thought twice), whereas Donaire laid an egg in his equivalent fight and then plummeted downhill afterward.
At the time they happened, I'm not sure if the Rigondeaux fight was really regarded as bigger than his fight vs Montiel
Specifically, REED Is Speaking of the Period of Time AFTER Canelo Beat Cotto for the Title, Late 2015... Yes, Canelo was BLATANTLY Delaying the Inevitable, Facing Liam Smith, Chavez Jr and Khan In Lieu of GGG...Took Him Nearly 2 Fucking Years to Finally Face GGG... That Doesn't ABSOLVE GGG from Coasting During That Same Timeframe, However...He Clearly WAS... Monroe Jr., Lemieux, Wade, Brook...And Even Though the Jacobs Fight Looks Better in HINDSIGHT, It was Expected GGG Would Do Him as Dmitry Pirog Had, Pre-Fight... Jacobs RESURRECTED His Career That Night and It was This Fight That Finally Gave Canelo the Confidence to Face GGG Himself... Trying to Fight Carl Froch is a Noble Gesture and All, But it's NOT Like Froch was the Only Guy @ '68... REED
As for Donaire, the Rigondeaux Loss was @ '22...Nonito Won his 1st World Title @ 112...His Run Up to '22 was Exceptional, a Legit Lower Weight BANGER... He Accomplished More and His Resume is Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeper.... REED
The Monroe and Lemieux fights you mentioned happened prior to that. On top of that, Lemieux was a big PPV/unification event against a guy considered the biggest puncher in the division. Jacobs resurrected his career the moment he bombed out Quillin in a round. That most people probably expected G to stop him in the end doesn't mean Jacobs wasn't already proven and respected as an elite fighter.
You're Correct, Monroe and Lemieux were Part of When GGG COASTED, Hoping to Unify w/Cotto...REED's Timeline was a Tad Off...GGG Still COASTED Though... Lemieux Already Had 2 Losses by the Time he Faced GGG, 1 By KO...Sure, it was a PPV Event, But Definitely Not a "Big" One...It Did LESS than 200k PPV Buys... No Way was Jacobs Considered ELITE Again Until AFTER the GGG Fight...He Got Brownie Points for NOT Getting Killed That Night...Let's Not Rewrite History Now... REED
So you criticize G for not fighting beltholders like Badou and Uzcategui, yet you find fault when he does fight beltholders like Jacobs and Lemieux and dismiss those wins as "coasting"? Jacobs was almost universally regarded as G's best opponent to date, and their fight was one of the most highly anticipated MW fights in years. Saying Jacobs must not have been considered elite because most people figured him to get stopped in the end would be like saying Hopkins wasn't considered elite in 2001 because most people expected Tito to stop him. It's circular logic.
No, REED "Finds Fault" w/Triple G Facing Monroe, Wade, Lemieux, Brook and Keeps PROPER Perspective on the PERCEPTION Of Daniel Jacobs, Pre-Triple G...REED's Focusing on ALL of It, Whereas You're Carefully Selecting BITS of REED's Point, to Suit Your Argument... NONE Of Them were Considered "Elite Middleweights" When GGG Faced Them...Are You HONESTLY Telling REED Replacing Monroe and Wade w/a Super Middle Title and a Possible '68 Defense DOESNT ENHANCE Triple G's Legacy???...Of Course it Does... The Fact Jacobs Was Considered GGG's Best Opponent to Date Was an INDICTMENT on Golovkin's Resume, NOT a Compliment of Jacobs... Calling Golovkin-Jacobs "Highly Anticipated" is HYPERBOLE, Bruh...The ONLY "Highly Anticipated" Middleweight Fight of That Era was Canelo-GGG, Period... Not Sure WHERE You Intended to Go w/the BHop Analogy, Considering He was Well Over Double Digit Title Defenses by the Time he Faced Trinidad... REED
Golov-Jacobs was highly anticipated? LMAO! No it wasn't. It was thought to be a slaughter. NO ONE at the time thought Jacobs was gonna last more than 5-7 rounds with Golov. NO ONE. The fact that Danny gave Golov Hell and lasted the distance was a big shock. It wasn't no damn Hagler-Hearns. It was thought to be a mismatch.
I'd have to agree. I remember it being touted as a 'how long can it last / how well can he do?' affair. I disagreed with my brother since he bet on Jacobs taking GGG to a close-ish decision . Though I was young at the time.
I remember being told in the lead up to the fight that it'd be a complete demolition job. It's why I wanted to watch it, to get into boxing. My dad wanted GGG to win badly so he became my favourite fighter. I stayed up and watched it at the flat with his mates, it was the first fight I ever sat and watched of my own accord.
