Virgil Hunter might be right about GGG's altitude training. His reflexes looked shot.

[Boxing Logic]

All the snap was off his punches. When he tried to hit Canelo with the right hand, it looked like a loose noodle all night. This is what Virgil said:

"I know Golovkin trains up at Big Bear in high altitude, and science has proven that if you train at high altitude and you live and sleep at high altitude, it's really counterproductive. Now that's for runners and things like that, but we have seen Golovkin kind of get tired sometimes in the middle rounds, and you know, then you say well, OK, what does that mean, well when Shane was training up at Big Bear, we would see Shane get tired, we would see Oscar get tired sometimes in the middle rounds. They would come back with a second wind, but they'd have some rounds where they would be tired, and high altitude has a tendency to do that to you. Now, if you train at high altitude and live and rest at sea level, it's productive."

What do you guys think? That didn't look like normal aging for a 35 year old. That looked like slow motion, totally ruined muscle fibers, that have no reaction time to them anymore. There is a delay in the muscle fibers twitch reflexes in every punch but the short, straight jab, because that is a simple motion. The longer right hand, or any of the hooked punches, have a delay to them now, and are easy for these prime, unruined, high twitch athletes GGG fights to avoid. I know he was never the fastest guy, but I've never seen anything like the noodle right hands he was throwing in there, and I started to notice that happening to his punches years ago, ever so slightly around the Monroe fight, then more since then, including the great Lemieux performance (but there's a reason it was all jabs, the other punches were no longer fast enough to land without missing and getting countered), and then a ton in the most recent fights. With what is happening to GGG's muscles fibers, he's basically been reduced to nothing but a jabber, and he's lucky he has an absolutely incredible, high volume jab, and even better chin to deal with all those times his noodle hooks miss and he gets countered in the face, otherwise he would have gotten knocked out long before getting to Canelo.

If Virgil Hunter is correct, Abel Sanchez has absolutely ruined his star boxer. Sort of unbelievable but that's what it looks like. GGG used to have some of the snappiest hooks in the sport. Now they look like absolute loose noodles. That can't just be age. He's not 45. What Virgil said makes perfect sense.

[Vegemil]

He's 35 years old.

[kardsufur]

I dont know what it was but he looked shot. It was scary seeing Canelo up against the ropes literally begging 3G to hit him and 3g couldn't even pull the trigger because he knew his shots were way too slow to land and then when he did attempt to throw at Canelo on the ropes, it was so pathetically slow Canelo easily dodged everything

[Zaryu]

Interesting open post. I'd be interested to see how GGGs performance would change if he implemented some corrective action.

[THC]

I don't think his training environment was a factor. He's simply past his prime, maybe by 3 or 4 years. His footwork has gotten slower, the punches lack snap, and they seem slower to me. His reflexes aren't as sharp also.

As far as Virgil Hill, logistically, how does an athlete "train at high altitude and live and rest at sea level"?

This training protocol is reserved for improving aerobic fitness, not power. So I'd like to see this science referenced by Virgil Hill that explains how training at altitude is a detriment to fast twitch muscle performance. He mentions Oscar and Shane tiring in fights after training at Big Bear, and I realize excessive aerobic training CAN impede power gains, but three data points do not constitute a correlation beyond random chance. I mean, other boxers have had stamina issues in the ring. And they have never trained at altitude.