Former world middleweight champion Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin was inducted into the IBHOF on Thursday.
He made a record and tied 20 consecutive middleweight title defenses held by Bernard Hopkins.
He was elected in his first year on the ballot by voting members of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a panel of international boxing historians.
A native of Kazakhstan, he was 42-2-1 with 37 shutouts. He won his first title in 2010 in his 19th fight and remained champion until Saul “Canelo” Alvarez defeated him by majority decision in 2018 for the IBO and WBC world titles in their second bout after a disputed draw that he deserved the win. After the draw, he stopped Vanes Martirosyan, 36-3-1, before his rematch with Alvarez.
Two fights after losing to Alvarez, he won the vacant IBF and IBO titles, defeating Sergiy Derevyanchenko 13-1. He made two winning defenses over Kamil Szeremeta, 21-0, and Ryota Murata, 16-2, before losing in his third fight with Alvarez in September 2022, which was his last fight.
In May of 2004, he received a silver medal in the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, losing to Gaydarbek Gaybarbekov.
His amateur record was reported at 345-5, but records show he had at least eight losses.
He will be inducted on June 14, 2026.
Last updated on 12/04/2025
